36, Day 8 - Are We Family? (written Sunday December 18)

Recently I heard the old 70's song, "We Are Family" and it really got me to thinking. (I know what you're thinking, "Wow, I never knew disco could spur someone to soul searching thought"). What I got to thinking was, what really makes someone family? Is it blood and DNA? Is it last names or common ancestors? Is it shared physical characteristics, reunions and holiday gatherings? I really don't think so. Just because we are related, doesn't mean we are family.

To me, family is more about relationships, attitudes and time spent together, than it is about our last name. Some of the people I consider to be most like family aren't even related to me at all, except perhaps through Christ. At the same time, there are a lot of people I am related to (haven't you heard, I am kin to half of Giles County) that just don't seem like family to me. Please don't read too much into that statement. I have no animosity toward them, and it is certainly not the case that I don't care about them, I just don't have anything in common with them or have no connection to them other than sharing great-grandparents.

Case in point, when you go to a family reunion, do you notice that most people tend to sit with and talk with those they are close to? And when you do talk with others it is usually a short conversation because after a couple of minutes you have said all you know to say and don't really have anything else in common to talk about. Sometimes it just seems like we are doing things out of a sense of obligation. On the other hand, today I spent the afternoon with a group of people that feel like family to me, even though we are not related. The one family is from Georgia, with Russian grandparents, and the other family are a mixture of Canadian and Chinese, while my family of four is pure blood hillbilly. We could not be much more different genetically, yet we had such a wonderful family Christmas celebration from the time morning worship ended until evening worship started. The house was filled with laughter, conversation, fun and just blessings. Are we related? No. Are we family? Absolutely.