you will pass it on

Monday February 19^th, Deuteronomy 30:  ¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.  When we choose life, it is not just we who come out ahead; it is our children and our children’s children.  I remember the first time I became aware of the multigenerational dimension of dysfunctional family systems, all of a sudden it came to me.  That horrible text in Exodus 20, “the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,” was not a mean vindictive God who just wanted to squash anyone who did not follow his ways; it was a loving God who was warning us of the consequences of our actions.   The shit we pull does not stop with us; it flows down, and down and down until someone breaks the chain of dysfunction.  One can only assume that the converse is also true and good flows down to the generations, to our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren etc.  Amo Ergo Sum, I Love, therefore I am.