Tuesday 25th March

Monday nights I watch a programme called Long Lost Family on ITV3  which films people tracking down
relatives from whom they have been separated ( quite often through adoption) for many years.   It is always very moving to see people who didnt know they had siblings being told that they do.  Or seeing mothers who gave up babies for adoption finally reunited with their children decades later.  Sometimes the stories take people half way round the world for their reunions.  And sometimes people have been living merely streets away from each other all their lives without realising it.   It makes for good television

After that I switch over to One Born Every Minute.   I know there is possibly something a bit odd about watching people giving birth - but its not the actual process which I find fascinating ( although it is ) so much

as the vast array of different people they film.  All sorts of family groups, ages, colours and creeds.  Single mothers, multiple births, unexpected pregnancies and longed for IVF babies.  All of them have a story to tell - ordinary people united in the excitement and adventure of bringing new life into the world

So my Monday nights leave me thinking about the significance of family and the need to belong.

People have a deep need to know where they come from.  I cant imagine what it must feel like not to know - but I think it must be terribly isolating and frightening to have no idea of parentage or ancestry.  No idea about the people who brought you into the world and what they were like. We all need to be rooted somewhere and to feel connected to other people.  God made us that way. He sets us in families.  It is not good for man to be alone.   He takes particular care over orphans and widows.  Family is important.

The reason I think it is important is because a family mirrors on earth so much of what things are like in heaven. They are a pale foreshadowing of the relationships we are ultimately destined to enjoy.  God is Father.  Jesus is brother and lover and friend.  The Holy Spirit is comforter and adopter and revealer.  In some small ways our families provide us with some of what we were created to enjoy eternally.  For a while. In the meantime.  When they are working at their best.

So today let us remember those we know who are struggling with family issues.  Those who are alone.  Those who long for children and cant have them.  Those who have lost loved ones. The parents with prodigals who are waiting for them to return.  People who are in the midst of family conflict, family breakdown, sadness and turmoil.   Let us be thankful for our own families and the sense of belonging and connectedness they provide.  And let us look forward with hope to the day when we are welcomed into the presence of the Father Son and Spirit to partake of true family.