Ruthie and I celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary on December 27th this year. We were supported by our own nuclear families as we began our own family. By November 4th of 1975, our family grew from two to three. By the time 1984 rolled around, our family grew to six members. Our oldest child, Andy, is 45 years old. Our youngest child pictured here, Beth, will be 37 years old. Time has passed since the picture, above, was taken (poor Ruthie was working nights and was so tired when the picture was taken.).
As Ruthie and I were honoring our wedding anniversary yesterday, we did so quietly and at home, venturing out just to pick up our take out order of Mexican food. We spent the day with our son, Luke, and our daughter, Meg, both of whom did not have to work this weekend. We watched four movies about relationships. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, focused on the love relationships that existed in the Greek immigrant family. Moonstruck, focused on the struggle of relationships within an Italian family. The Bird Cage focused on the relationships within a Gay family, and the blossoming relationship of their son with the daughter of a right wing Senator. And, Shall We Dance, focused on the love relationship of a middle aged man with his wife, and his own mid-life crisis (cured in many ways by learning to ballroom dance).
Our families are as varied as the families in these four movies. It matters not whether the couple is straight or gay, it matters not what ethnicity a family is, or what religion or no religion may exist within a family, family is always about relationship. All families have their dysfunction and failures, some more than others, but all families are also blessed and holy in varying degrees.
In ministering to and with the Latino community, I admired and loved the way they embraced the concept of family. Family was never limited to just those within a biological relationship, blood kin. Rather, the understanding of family extended way beyond the nuclear family to those within their community. I remember an undocumented friend of mine whose car was in need of repair. One of the people living in his apartment complex was a mechanic. The mechanic repaired his car for the cost of the parts. As my friend explained it, when he asked the mechanic how much he wanted for labor, the mechanic replied, “nothing.” My friend then told me, “People can’t live on nothing.” He then took a picture down from his wall to which was afixed $50 in cash. He gave that cash to his mechanic friend. Why? Because his friend was a part of his greater family.
Scripture informs us that we are all children of God. We all bear the face of God and are made in the image and likeness of God. What is required of us is to begin to see God’s face imprinted on the faces of all people around us and treat and respect each person as we would God. If only we could see the commonality that unites us as family, instead of focusing on that which separates us. It matters not to what religion a person belongs. It matters not as to what culture has shaped a person, nor what language a person speaks. That person is our brother and sister to whom we are bonded by the divine DNA of God who has created us. This is what it means to see others as God see others. This is what it means to live the teachings of Jesus. This is what it means to “put on Christ”.
If only we could see with the eyes of Christ, we would never again experience the artificial divisions that separate us and impoverishes us. As this year evolves into a New Year, let us resolve to begin to see others as our brothers and sisters, the Holy Family of God.
