heritage

my first parents walked in the garden of eden.

my ancestors include seth, enoch, methuselah.

i know my lineage comes through noah and his sons,
so my ancestors were on the ark.

what if my ancestors left egypt
delivered by the ten plagues of God,
walking on the dry bed of the red sea?

what if my ancestors conquered the promised land?
what if they paid homage to david and solomon?
what if they were carried into captivity?
what if they were delivered by esther's appeal?
what if they returned to the promised land
with nehemiah, ezra, zerubbabel, and jeshua?
what if they resisted tyranny with the maccabees?

what if they were among the diaspora
and returned to the land only for the feasts?

what if they walked in the land
when Jesus was teaching?

what if they heard and accepted?
what if they heard and rejected?

what if they were scattered
by the destruction of jerusalem?

what if they were pagans in the frontiers of rome?
or pagans in the western hemisphere?
or pagans in africa?

what if my grandparents were pastors?
my parents in full-time ministry?
my brother an ordained minister?
my husband a pastor?

what if i grew up in a christian home,
going to church,
attending a christian school,
going to a evangelical college?

this is not my spiritual heritage.

no.
no.
no.

God is my inheritance.
Christ is my portion.
the Spirit is the earnest of my inheritance.

i am loved by Almighty God,
and in love he calls me his child.
Jesus considers me his brother.

everything else is,
well,
like paul said,
worthless.