Family Connections

We all have them. The Family traditions, stories, habits, even beliefs. Generally we never challenge them or question them. They just…are. From holidays to how best to treat a cold (sleep with your head propped up, drink lots of water, take ibuprofen or half a baby aspirin), our families of origin impart to us survival knowledge, myths, and habits. Some good, some, eh, not so good.

This week I’ve been reading in that delightful Old Testament romp known as the book of Numbers. Numbers chronicles a lot of disobedience. The nation of Israel gets sent to their room for forty years for whining and grumbling and complaining against God and His provision. Every man age twenty and over is told they will not enter the Promised Land because of their behavior, that everyone gets to wander in the desert until all of those men, except for Caleb and Joshua, have died.

Queue Numbers chapter 20. It’s been thirty-seven years of wandering around. In an area about the size of, oh maybe New Jersey. The Israelites are now back close to where their time-out began. And what happens?

Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” – Numbers 20:2-5

These complainers are saying the same things that got their fathers a desert death sentence! But most of them would not have actually experienced the plenty of Egypt or the slavery of Egypt. The ones who had were young when they did, and they had been eating manna and quail for the last forty years. So where were they getting their information?

Family of origin. The tales and stories around the table or fire. Fireside grumbling. Ignoring their own role in the consequences of their nation. The Good Old Days.

Do we focus on current and future provision or do we long for what was even when it wasn’t exactly all that? Do we tell the stories of God’s goodness and love and mercy, or do we long for our own way?

What Family Stories need to be replaced and refreshed?