Rooted

Today we began with this poem:

The legacy of the family lives in our bones.
The piece of our story we can never disown.
It’s the system that shapes us our hearts cornerstone.
DNA around our ankles, like a twisted vine,
Pulls us into the tangle of family lines.
We turn to our ancestors as we go looking for answers.
How can you go forward unless you go backward?
But will the past hold us captive or can we forgive?
History may go back as far as we can see,
But the way things are is not the way things have to be.
There is power in showing up with vulnerability and transparency in each of our stories.

David likened our family systems to that of a root system of a tree. The story went like this: As David was out gardening, his neighbor stopped by to warn him that the vegetables he was planting were not going to survive. David, not sure what his neighbor could know that he didn’t, went ahead with the project anyway. Sure enough, the vegetables after sprouting initially, withered and died. David curious and humble, asked his neighbor what he knew different and discovered that his neighbor had a walnut tree which roots produce a toxin that kills vegetables.

David discussed how like the walnut tree, often there are unseen toxins underneath that inhibit our growth and maturity. God wants to give us the tools to acknowledge our roots and to receive healing and freedom from toxicity rooted in past generations through our family systems.

David shared his story and how the toxicity that came through his great-great-grandfather had affected his great-grandfather, his grandfather, his father, and himself. One of the stories he shared was that once his great-great-grandfather died they opened up a chest in his workshop and found a klan hood and robe. Also, through his great-grandfather came sexual abuse which was passed down to David’s grandfather and nephews and the whole family tree. David discussed that he needed to wake up to these toxins and acknowledge them so that God could heal them. David also mentioned that in the midst of this pain, each generation tried to make different and better choices for their own family. Like all of our root systems, it was a mixed bag. In the midst of abuse and racism, God started showing up to David’s grandparents and parents to bring light, smooth out the toxic roots, and change the trajectory of their family.

We need to wake up to our root system and invite God in to it. One of the ways is to look at Jesus’ root system. It was a mixed bag as well. If Jesus’ root system was toxic maybe he can speak into ours. However, all of us ultimately go back to Adam who was the son of God. God is our ultimate root. 

There is a deeper root than the toxic one we see. That fact that we are made in the image of God is more true of us then the fall! If we dig into our roots and find toxicity, we need to dig deeper to find that we are loved, blameless, and seated in heavenly places. We might think that what is toxic is permanent, but Jesus flips this idea on its head. In that culture, it was assumed that if someone touches a leper, they become unclean, but when Jesus touched a leper the leper became clean. So it is when we are rooted in Jesus that he touches our toxic roots, heals them, brings freedom, and makes us clean.

We are God’s child more than we are our earthly parent’s child. When we get ahold of this truth we can begin the essential and commanded work of forgiveness and freedom. 

2 Corinthians 2:10-11
Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

Let us wake up to the goodness of our Heavenly Father and to our rooted identity as HIS child as we unearth our toxic roots with the shovel of forgiveness.