“Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.” – John Lennon

From the Book of Genesis

And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos…

When I was an oh-so-bored child in church, I remember reading the ‘begats’. 

I’m not sure why I thought reading something (that’s about as exciting as a grocery list) was the only alternative to the sermon. And maybe I actually only did it a few times. However, it has morphed into one of those kid memories, like the one random ice storm that has transformed all the winters of my childhood into epic snow and ice-filled wonderlands.  

But I know this part is true: keeping my Bible open and my head down was a smart strategy. My mother had an amazing ability to pinch and twist the flesh on the back of my arm that quelled any extra movement in the pew. A smart girl was a girl who didn’t move.

Later, when I was around eleven or twelve, I got into reading the Book of Revelations. I ask you. Which is worse? Boring begats or scaring the shit out of yourself with the End Times?

Thinking about it now, I feel like the begats have informed my world view. Perhaps it helped me understand the links, the tangential connections, the segues, the moments that take me from a seemingly random conversation to an aha moment.

Maybe too, it taught me the long view, the aerial perspective, or maybe it was just a way to suck up some energy for that poor bored-out-of-her-tree girl who wanted nothing more than to get into the bush, swing on the Tarzan rope and yell her loudest Tarzan yell.

And by the way. Know this. I was never Jane, dammit. I was Tarzan.

I realize now that it was Nature that ultimately saved me from the stuffy world of religion. Changing into my play clothes after school, the worn jeans, the gumboots, my soft T-shirt and the beat-up jacket, gave me permission to get dirty, to scream and yell, to build forts and poke in the muck.

Sundays, with the stullifying world of our best clothes, our shined shoes and the inevitable visiting over the Royal Albert china was enough to convert me to the natural world forevermore.

And as for my later foray into Revelations and all the terror-filled punishments of Hell and Damnation that awaited me?

Perhaps that’s the reason I believe so fervently in living my life as fully-engaged and deeply as possible. I no longer believe in those Revelation-based End Times, but I know we all have a personal end date that awaits us.

But before that happens, I want to take it all in. I want to see everything, be everywhere and absorb it all. I want to create art, live a good life, connect with other people, eat well, learn lots and stay open. I want to explore and get dirty and live large. I want to take risks, to not care about the opinions of others, to be firmly ensconced in the driver’s seat of life with that gas pedal pushed to the floor, but mostly…I want to love, to really really love this world.

I am so grateful for the rich heritage of growing up Mennonite. I wouldn’t change one minute of my rich wealth of memories. And, I am grateful for my ability to understand how different cultures and religions can mould us, but most importantly, what we do with those beginnings and whether we choose to grow from that original base or stay stuck in our past.

I now know that there’s only one begat worth knowing and it’s this: Love begats more love.

So please.. let us love one another.

Amen.

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”

– Robert Fulghum