Conversation by Susan L.

  I met with my psychiatrist for my bi-monthly check in. I am blessed to have one who will take the time to chat by allowing at least forty five minutes for an appointment. There are many others out there who simply prescribe medications in assembly line fashion without taking the time to find out what is going on in their patient's lives.
  I shared about my DNA testing and what I hoped to find out. He was excited about the idea, that it would provide another piece for my journey of self-discovery. I am sure that search will continue the rest of my life. I shared that I wondered where all my creativity came from. Part of the DNA quest is hoping to discover possible connections who could answer that.
  We chatted about inherent abilities. I shared that I truly believe that our blood has memory, that the gifts and talents we are born with are part of our family line. And it's not just artistic abilities. Talents take many forms: math, mechanics, organization. The good Doctor smiled and told me there was a prominent doctor years ago who theorized that a collective subconscious was part of  relational make up. In other words, blood memory. His name was Carl Yung, a forefather of modern psychiatric medicine. It seems I am in good company and not completely off my rocker!
  I don't know what answers this quest will provide. Judging from the number of people who have taken a DNA test, well over 700,000 with Family Tree DNA alone, it appears I have a lot of company in the desire to know our roots. There are other companies with similar statistics.
  When I was little, my father was on a similar quest. We spent many hours wandering around cemeteries as he searched for family members. Back then, it was a monumental task. Computers didn't exist. Ancestry.com wasn't there either. Top that with the name Smith, it was astounding that he found all that he did. But he had the background story of where his family came from. They were loyalists who fled the States during the war of independence and settled in New Brunswick.
  This adopted heritage is part of my identity and means a lot to me.
  Which creates more questions. Does my blood also carry adopted memory? If so, is that part of where my gifts come from? Has my adopted heritage reinforced that of my bloodline?
  As Christians, we know there are connections that lay beyond mere flesh and bone. The Holy Spirit unites us as one body under the most precious Blood of Christ. It is far better and far greater than this little human brain can fathom.
  "As for Me," says the Lord, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the Lord, "from this time and forevermore." Is 59:21