Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Who's Your Daddy?
Not long ago I commented to a friend that I don't have the same sense of history they do. My siblings know we are primarily French and English with some Scottish and Irish thrown in. Unlike some families, there hasn't been much follow up of my mom and dad's geneology, though it has been provided to us.
As I was cleaning out some papers the other day, I came across the lineage mom provided 4 years ago, which also I remembered from a grade 6 school report. The prominent name was Napier, which I always thought was English or French. As I turned to the internet out of curiosity I found that the Napier line is very significant in Scottish history. We won't talk about those who "had issue" according to the internet, or were killed for trangressions. For those who are into history, here's some facts. For those who aren't, skip to the next paragraph. Two names came to the forefront, one of which was James Douglas, also known as the Black Douglas, friend and battle companion of Robert the Bruce. Basically, if you've seen Braveheart it's about part of my family line. For the less testosterone driven, there's also John Napier, a philosopher, writer and scientist who discovered logarithms (the basis of our calculus system). So, last night I had my cheap thrills looking through internet archives.
When I woke Matthew up for his last pee for the night, I was anxious to tell him that I'm related to Scottish kings. He tried to top that by saying he was even better because he's named after someone who hung around with Jesus even before the Scottish kings were born. "I'm named after...you know...one of the apostles." I told him it wasn't a competition (that was a lie) and that through his adoption he shares the same family lineage as me. That's a cue for something I've been pondering for a while but didn't know how to write.
Of his own merit Matthew has no birth rights to my lineage. For example, I've heard that if I visit Scotland I can bring the written lineage and because of the relation stay at the Douglas castle for free. Matthew, if not adopted by me, would never have the same right. But he has been brought into my family line through the choice of adoption, and now shares all my family priviliges. What I have access to, he has access to. He is part of my family tree, with all its embarrassments and all its boasts.
Ephesians 1:5
Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
Through our adoption as sons of God, we have access to so much more. It's not ours by our own birthright, but it has been made ours by acceptance into His family. Can you list some things you now have access to?
Who's your daddy?
As I was cleaning out some papers the other day, I came across the lineage mom provided 4 years ago, which also I remembered from a grade 6 school report. The prominent name was Napier, which I always thought was English or French. As I turned to the internet out of curiosity I found that the Napier line is very significant in Scottish history. We won't talk about those who "had issue" according to the internet, or were killed for trangressions. For those who are into history, here's some facts. For those who aren't, skip to the next paragraph. Two names came to the forefront, one of which was James Douglas, also known as the Black Douglas, friend and battle companion of Robert the Bruce. Basically, if you've seen Braveheart it's about part of my family line. For the less testosterone driven, there's also John Napier, a philosopher, writer and scientist who discovered logarithms (the basis of our calculus system). So, last night I had my cheap thrills looking through internet archives.
When I woke Matthew up for his last pee for the night, I was anxious to tell him that I'm related to Scottish kings. He tried to top that by saying he was even better because he's named after someone who hung around with Jesus even before the Scottish kings were born. "I'm named after...you know...one of the apostles." I told him it wasn't a competition (that was a lie) and that through his adoption he shares the same family lineage as me. That's a cue for something I've been pondering for a while but didn't know how to write.
Of his own merit Matthew has no birth rights to my lineage. For example, I've heard that if I visit Scotland I can bring the written lineage and because of the relation stay at the Douglas castle for free. Matthew, if not adopted by me, would never have the same right. But he has been brought into my family line through the choice of adoption, and now shares all my family priviliges. What I have access to, he has access to. He is part of my family tree, with all its embarrassments and all its boasts.
Ephesians 1:5
Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
Through our adoption as sons of God, we have access to so much more. It's not ours by our own birthright, but it has been made ours by acceptance into His family. Can you list some things you now have access to?
Who's your daddy?
// posted by Annette @ 8:39 a.m. 