FAMILY TREES

robert r. lackney, chaplain

The month of November marks the close of the Liturgical year.

The liturgical teachings are brought to an end and we enter Advent.

Adventime reminds us of new beginnings and the chance to

... “re-design” our lives:  to recognize who we are becoming.

The coming Advent celebrates another opportunity to ask:

Who made the world?  Who is God? Why did God make me?

We have entered the sacred time of “Beginnings and Endings“.

 

Recently, I had a conversation with friends regarding “Family Trees”.

… One claimed to be a descendent of French royalty from Paris.

… Bill Tischler translates as “maker of shoes”, cobblers from Austria.

… Tom, an Irish Catholic turned Anglican, brought out a large bound book,

thumbed through the pages pointed to page 930 to the name,

“Plunket”. Plunket is that saint, who we have heard about from time to time,

Mr. Plunket, had unwillingly lost his head protesting the king.

The old saying in Tom’s family gatherings remains:

… “Please don’t kill the messenger!”

Then someone asked Betty Lou, “Where did your family come from?”

She repeated her story as told to her by her mother, Elizabeth.

… “My mother a descendant of John Elkins of Elkins, West Virginia.

… The Elkins family settled in the hill country in 1715,

… And several married and raised families with the local Indians.”

“My great grandmother,” Betty grinned, “was Cherokee.”

“… Her name: … Sunflower that Smiles!

… My  great- great grandfather was  known as:

… Pulling a Canoe.

I have no idea this is true or not. It remains an old family legend.”

Many family backgrounds remain myths, fables, and mysteries.

… A mystery for some of us yet to be discovered.

The most common questions asked when meeting people

Where do you come from?... Who are you? ...What do you do?

Each of us is called to establish a personal vision of our life’s mission that will give shape to our personal values, beliefs, and behaviors.

 

Adventime may be just the kind of opportunity we need to think about our daily challenges as we travel in this wonderful thing we call life.

 

Only The Goodthings

deacon robert r.lackney, My 4^th Day Journal, November, 2012.

PS: The  things I  learned, this past year, from our scriptures that has helped me:

1^st … To discover the answer to the question: “Why did God make me?”

2^nd… To know God wants you for your ability to think, to struggle and to doubt.

3^rd… To be true to yourself -once you have discovered your gift, purpose, and mission.

 

The individual yearns to be of value, to be

Wanted ... Needed ... Worthwhile

To

Love... and to be... Loved.

 

Without this vision the individual will not discover the true

Talent, Skill, and Capability

That lies dormant within His or Her being.