{"id":4742,"date":"2025-02-27T14:17:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T21:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/coloringoutsidethelines\/?p=4742"},"modified":"2025-02-28T08:03:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T15:03:38","slug":"uncovering-my-familys-faith-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/coloringoutsidethelines\/2025\/02\/uncovering-my-familys-faith-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncovering My Family’s Faith History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It\u2019s story time, kids!<\/p>\n

Several years ago, my brother spit into a bottle and sent away for a DNA test kit. Like many of us, he was curious about his own origin story \u2014 including the origins of my mom\u2019s side of the family.<\/p>\n

My siblings and I share the same biological origins, you see. My mom is his mom, his dad is my dad, and so the story goes.<\/p>\n

Beyond these facts, however, we\u2019ve long known my father\u2019s side of the story \u2014 about how the MacDonald family immigrated from Scotland and birthed a long lineage of American civil servant workers. Those names and vocations, health histories and faith persuasions we\u2019ve not had to guess, not when aunties and cousins and brothers too have spent hours charting the tree.<\/p>\n

My mother\u2019s side of the family has always been somewhat of a mystery, though. Born in the late forties, for decades my mom knew her birth mother\u2019s name, but hers was a closed adoption \u2014 and closed adoptions in this era lacked any sort of unlocking potential.<\/p>\n

Those same names and vocations, health histories and faith persuasions we easily knew from my dad\u2019s side of the family were not so easily known with my mom\u2019s side of the family.<\/p>\n

For the most part, we accepted the not-knowing part of our story. This was just part of how the cookies sometimes crumbled, one might say.<\/p>\n

And then my brother spit into a bottle.<\/p>\n

I tell you this story because a whole new world opened up to all of us with the results \u2014 including DNA results that showed each one of the three siblings was a quarter Ashkenazi Jewish (meaning that our mother is 50 percent Jewish).<\/p>\n

\"\"
Learning about my Jewishness has meant learning, uncovering, and exploring so much more about the faith I practice today. | Image by H. Hach<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yes, this told me something about the blood that pulses through my veins and about who I am as a descendant of Jews who lived in Central and Eastern Europe, including in the countries of Germany, Poland, and Russia.<\/p>\n

But it also helped me uncover something about my family\u2019s faith history, namely that I come from people rooted in the Jewish faith tradition.<\/p>\n

As a Christian, which is to say, as someone who seeks to follow in the way and life of Jesus, learning about my Jewishness has meant learning and uncovering and exploring so much more about the faith I practice today.<\/p>\n

Jesus, after all, was thoroughly Jewish. And yes, as the Nicene Creed states\u2026<\/p>\n

For us and for our salvation<\/em>
\nhe came down from heaven,<\/em>
\nwas incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary<\/em>
\nand became truly human.<\/em>
\nFor our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;<\/em>
\nhe suffered death and was buried.<\/em>
\nOn the third day he rose again<\/em>
\nin accordance with the Scriptures;<\/em>
\nhe ascended into heaven<\/em>
\nand is seated at the right hand of the Father.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But all of this happened when and throughout his life as a Jewish man. How might the tenets of Judaism then be understood and incorporated into my life as a Christian?<\/p>\n

For me, some of these questions have been answered by reading different Jewish theologians. Abraham Joshua Heschel, author of\u00a0The Sabbath<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0God in Search of Man,<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>among others, has taught me a lot.<\/p>\n

Here are three of my favorite quotes from him:<\/p>\n

Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. \u2026.get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does it mean to live in the present moment, to pat the puppy, as Annie Dillard so memorably said? To me to means to live life in radical amazement \u2014 and to then believe each moment a gift.<\/p>\n

Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve written before about that phrase, \u201cIt\u2019s the journey, not the destination that counts.\u201d In the life of faith, is it not an endless pilgrimage of the heart?<\/p>\n

The primary purpose of prayer is not to make requests. The primary purpose is to praise, to sing, to chant. Because the essence of prayer is a song, and man cannot live without a song.<\/p>\n

Prayer may not save us. But prayer may make us worthy of being saved.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sometimes I feel like I have a complicated relationship with prayer, but Heschel reminds me of the song that lives beneath it all. If this is the case, I want to keep singing \u2014 I\u00a0will\u00a0<\/em>keep singing, because song is prayer.<\/p>\n

In this way, if you\u2019re interested in uncovering more about your own family\u2019s faith history so you can deepen your understanding of your\u00a0<\/em>faith across generations, I encourage you to check out RootsTech.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Check out RootsTech!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

RootsTech is a place to learn, be inspired, and make connections through family history. Hosted by FamilySearch, RootsTech offers expert classes and tips, as well as inspiring stories to help you experience family history like never before.<\/p>\n

Consider checking out the\u00a0free\u00a0<\/em>online conference<\/a> \u2014 because at \u201cThe World\u2019s Largest Family Discovery Event,\u201d you can visit their on-demand learning library, participate in interactive online events<\/a>, and hear from some incredible speakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With more than 20,000 people in attendance at the actual event, I don\u2019t doubt the free online version is going to be just as informative \u2014 and just as inspiring as you learn more about the spiritual legacy passed down to you through your relatives and ancestors.<\/p>\n

Do\u00a0<\/em>let me know if you end up checking out the online conference. I\u2019d love to hear how it goes for you!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s story time, kids! Several years ago, my brother spit into a bottle and sent away for a DNA test kit. Like many of us, he was curious about his own origin story \u2014 including the origins of my mom\u2019s side of the family. My siblings and I share the same biological origins, you see. 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