Origins

This may come as a shock and a surprise to you, but I can often be found thinking about things. (Yeah, there you go for the shock of the day – take your time in recovering from that.)  As in contemplating them and pondering and wondering.

For example today I was minding my own business on the train taking me from work in Northampton to the home that is Bletchley. I had just finished reading a comic book (yeah, I still read them and not ashamed about it). It was looking at the secret origins of certain well known super heroes. It wasn’t that much of a secret, but the theme was good to be reminded of where these folks are coming from and what shaped them to become the characters they were.

I got to the thinking, contemplating, pondering and wondering stage. I thought to meself – where do I come from? What are my origins? Why am I the way I am? These questions are useful in establishing the core that needs to be adjusted if we desire a better character.

You don’t have to make the process morose and heavy. The origins are not bad news stories all the time, there are lots of episodes of light and good-natured laughter in amongst it all. It reminded me of having a look in your attic. (I don’t have one, but you do … probably … and if you don’t make one up.) In there you’ve got the old family album and memorabilia from the school days. As you look at each they tell a story of a crucial shaping episode in your life – may have left an emotional scar or causes a burst of joy.

It’s like doing that process and looking at it like a big jigsaw puzzle which, unhelpfully, you don’t have the main picture to help guide you in putting the pieces together. So with what you’ve got you just find joining bits to help put your story together. It’s a worthwhile task to go through, which is why I admire those who take their family tree very seriously.

It’s one of those things – about my origins – that makes me dad seem all the more enigmatic. I’m not sure if it was something in the water for Jamaican men, but my dad isn’t that much of well of information and stories on the making of the man he is. So a lot of my guessing has to be done by piecemeal questions and enquiries as and when. It’s not even a case of him being secretive or protective, he has just generally not been an autobiographer spending time recording the steps on the journey large and small. He’s happy and content to leave his life to the issue of thanking God for yesterday, thanking God for what He will bring and getting on with a thankful attitude in dealing with the present.

That’s good for him, but as you can see, it doesn’t answer me questions or hasten the process of uncovering me origins. My mother’s side is a bit more open as she is generally and I can definitely detect where I got bits and bobs from her and some her siblings. It all helps with this huge puzzle, and yet even with these pieces the whole seems to only partially begin to take shape and it’s as if with every new piece discovered other pieces can be messed around.

What is very useful and reassuring for me is the origin I have in the Creator and how helpful He has been in outlining His character in His Word and pointing me to the Blueprint of who I am in His Son, Jesus Christ. That makes this whole journey and undertaking all the more exciting. As I discover the origins I have in Him and endeavour to apply them to present day practices it also shapes other life experiences in the light of Him. So what previously was a shameful episode that I’d rather forget, becomes a landmark of grace and a testament to the extraordinary mercies and love of my heavenly Father.

It is also in the search for my origins that the saying is never more true – if you fail to learn from history, you will never fail to repeat those same mistakes, but you may fail to celebrate parts of the heritage those origin stories has to offer for today.

I’m grateful for my origins earthly and heavenly. I’m grateful for all the influences that has positively shaped me to be the man I am today. Now onto discovering more pieces of the puzzle and celebrating more not just the revelation of Christopher Dryden, but more importantly the revelation and celebration of the Man Jesus Christ.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd