Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
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Matthew 1:1-17
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham. Abraham became the
father of Isaac, Isaac the father of
Jacob, Jacob the father of
Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the
father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was
Tamar....
For the past three weeks, strange and vivid dreams keep disturbing my restful sleep. I am not quite sure why my subscientious is so overactive right now.....
In one dream scene, I sat in a lecture room on my old college campus. In another I worked in an old laboratory, one of my first jobs out of college. Then just two night ago I dreamed of walking into my grandparents' old house they lived in 35 years ago. It still stood as I remember it with a chain linked fence, but the inside was trashed out with overflowing toilets and trash everywhere. It looked more like a hoarder's house than a neatly maintained home.
I will go through periods with little-to-no dream recall. But, at other times the nocturnal images bombard me non-stop. I often wonder if the Holy Spirit is try to send me hidden messages. Perhaps I need to worry less, rest more, and just let things go! Then maybe my mind will settle down.
Nobody ever "dreamed" that the Gospel writer Matthew would include the genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of his gospel. Why such a boring litany of hard-to-pronounce names? This is not one of the easiest passages to read, that's for sure. Yet, knowing the "blood line" to Christ helps us better understand connections between people in the Old and New Testaments. Christ is the ending of a great beginning!
Ancestry is important to all of us. In fact, it has become a multi-million dollar enterprise. Companies like Ancestry.com make it easier than ever for people to chart their family tree, even taking DNA tests to determine what countries they originate from.
I have embarked on a personal ancestral journey of my own by participating in National Geographic's The Genographic Project. By taking two cheek swabs of my DNA, and then sending off to the DNA laboratory for analysis, I will be able to trace the areas of the world my ancestors originate from, as far back as 10,000 years. Supposedly, the test will determine if any of my genes are of Neanderthal origin. Yes, an alternative human species! I kind of chuckle at the idea of being neanderthal.
Dreams and ancestry....both go hand in hand. We dream of our ancestors as we recover our past. What can we learn from those related to us? How much do we share in common with those people of the past? God is a part of the ancestral framework!
-J.
Ancestry is important to all of us. In fact, it has become a multi-million dollar enterprise. Companies like Ancestry.com make it easier than ever for people to chart their family tree, even taking DNA tests to determine what countries they originate from.
I have embarked on a personal ancestral journey of my own by participating in National Geographic's The Genographic Project. By taking two cheek swabs of my DNA, and then sending off to the DNA laboratory for analysis, I will be able to trace the areas of the world my ancestors originate from, as far back as 10,000 years. Supposedly, the test will determine if any of my genes are of Neanderthal origin. Yes, an alternative human species! I kind of chuckle at the idea of being neanderthal.
Dreams and ancestry....both go hand in hand. We dream of our ancestors as we recover our past. What can we learn from those related to us? How much do we share in common with those people of the past? God is a part of the ancestral framework!
-J.
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