Meaning-Making Part 5
March 8, 2025
Meaning-Making Part 5
Ancestry.com and other forums for finding our ancestral roots have captured the imaginations of thousands. 23andme, Living DNA, Family Tree DNA, SelfDecode, and Nebula Genomics are a few of the services on the market. The age group that most frequently buys these services is 34-54, with the 55+ age group running a close second. Why this is true is a matter of speculation. Still, one of the working hypotheses is that people with children and grandchildren are more acutely aware of their mortality and are interested in their family origins because it is a meaningful way of knowing who they are, with the bonus of passing that information down to their children.
Close contact between generations can be lost as families scatter from their original villages and communities to settle worldwide. The USA is trending back to multi-generational co-residencies — Pew Research Center says that the number of generational families has quadrupled since the 1970s and is on a steady rise. We have virtual capabilities and other electronic ways to stay connected, but the general mobility of our country tends to disrupt the closeness of earlier generations. For several reasons, many people are plagued with isolation, loneliness, meaninglessness, and estrangement. We are searching for meaning, self-knowledge, connection, and a sense of belonging; therefore, it is meaningful to know from whence we came and to whom we are connected.
It is a gift to know our roots. That information used to depend on written records and oral history. But now, thanks to DNA technology, we can understand our family ethnicities and, in many cases, our geographical origins without a written or oral family history. Yet nothing takes the place of pictures, photographs, heirlooms, and family stories.
The Holy Bible emphasizes the lineage of families in Genesis Chapters 4, 5, 10 and 11. 1 Chronicles Chapters 1-9 lists the longest section of genealogies in the Bible. Other places in the Old Testament with genealogies are Exodus 6:14-27, Ruth 4:18-22, Ezra 8:1-14, and Nehemiah 11-12. In the New Testament, in Matthew 1:1-17, a lengthy genealogy traces the steps down to Jesus, as does Luke 3:23-38. Genealogy and spirituality may have a greater connection than we know, especially considering the efficacy of generational blessings and curses.
Spiritual teacher Elkhart Tolle says that we hold within our DNA all the ecstasies and agonies of the previous generations. Our ancestors’ happiness and pain are with us always. When we feel the pain, sometimes our ego attaches to it, becoming part of our identity, which Tolle refers to as “the pain body.” I submit that it is also possible to attach to all the happiness our ancestors experienced and passed down to us. Our DNA is a living record of all the experiences of the biological line from which we descend. (See studies of evidence of PTSD of holocaust survivors being passed down to next generation.)
What is our biological ancestral identity, and what is our spiritual ancestral identity? These two are thought of as entirely different. Still, when we inspect how our bodies internalize and encode our experiences, it seems likely that we are recipients of a bio-spiritual lineage. Today, when there is a search for meaning and an epidemic of loneliness, I believe it would be very meaningful.
Spiritual practice: If we quiet ourselves, we can go deep into our bodies and feel our life force. We can become so still that we are aware of our breathing, heartbeat, and other bodily functions. Settling into our bodies, we are aware of our physical composition and the state of our bodies. When we become aware of the tissue, bones, and organs formed from the union between an egg and a spermatozoa, we realize we are a product of a union of two separate entities. Those two separate entities came from another two sets, and the line backward goes on. Imagine the people in your lineage you never knew who contributed directly to your bones, tissue, and organs. Imagine that your DNA contains experiences encoded from generations before you. Reflect on the fact you are a product of thousands of years and thousands of people. What feelings and images does this exercise bring up in you?
Self-inquiry: Why do I want to know who I am in all my aspects?
Dear God,
Please grant me the wisdom that is mine to inherit, and I pray to be part of the healing of my lineage. In your name, Amen
