DNA??!!

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Rev. Sudha Mehta©

“You are definitely of Aryan descent,” I turned to look at the man addressing me. He smiled. I asked “How would you know?”

“I am an anthropology professor,” he replied and introduced himself. He then continued, “It is the head, your head is large.” Certainly no way to compliment a lady!

Funny (but don’t laugh) . . . I had always wondered and was a bit unhappy about my head size. It seemed a bit larger compared to many Indians. Mama said I was a big baby at birth. No, it was not wood/ straw that filled it, and I was definitely not an empty head, I knew that, but it also was not something I ever talked about to others.

“Explain more, please” I was now intrigued.

Seeing that I was in a Sari and at an Indian gathering, he rightly surmised that I was Indian. He explained “Alexander the Great expanded his empire to India. He left many of his soldiers behind when he went back to Greece. these soldiers settled in India . . . so . . .”

“Ahha!”

Now that was interesting, especially because while growing up different people had different ideas about my ancestry. Some asked if my mother was from Europe, my English teacher called me Irani (from Iran/Persia), my college friends asked if I came from the US as a foreign student. My parents chalked it off to a previous life. My dad was told by our priest/astrologer that I had been an American in my previous life, and would be most at home in the US. Everyone that knew us said I took after my mother who was a very fair-skinned woman. Her side of the family, many were fair skinned including my grandmother. Back in the day that was not very common in India.

Daddy told us many generations before I was born our ancestors came over the Afghan mountains, settled in India before it was divided into Pakistan and India, and then subsequently after the division we moved to what is now India. Did they come as soldiers with the conquering armies of the Persians, or the Ottomans, or the Greeks? . . . no one knew.

Who am I? Where do I come from? Is it important? I think I might fail a DNA test and disprove my heritage as being truly Indian!

That brings me to the current DNA stories in the US about one of our high cheek-boned politicians. Her claim to fame has involved her racial claim to a certain heritage. Much ado about nothing, far as I am concerned.

Would I be willing to get a DNA test to prove where I came from? Would I do it for political. or monetary, or any other kind of gain. There is a romantic side to it. I could be a princess from some far away country no one knows and one that I have never been to. Would be fun to know if I am a direct descendant of Alexander the Great or one of his generals. I could be a princess from the Ottoman empire, or even the Persian!

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Daddy did tell me some things about our history that could easily be romanticized. Maybe I will write a historic- fiction novel from each of the angles. Greek, Persian or Turk. Hmm . . . then again, maybe, my children and my extended family will never speak to me!

Perhaps a DNA test would reveal me to be like the woman on TV who discovered she was “ALL OF US.” She found out she had a bit of DNA from all over the world. Maybe that’s me. Not romantic at all, but I think I like that the best.

Then again, I do not have to submit my DNA to find this, I already know that. Here is news for some of you, you have the same DNA mix.

I know they don’t have Noah’s DNA on file, but you and I, all of us, are 100% his descendants. You know this is the same Noah who built the ark as per God’s instructions and Blueprints, right? Off course you do. Step back before the flood, we are all direct descendants of Methuselah, Noah’s daddy who lived a grand 969 yrs. he was a VERY OLD MAN.

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Go nine steps (generations) back, and we are all direct descendants of daddy ADAM and mommy EVE! Race, color, creed, continent, geographical land boundaries, rich or poor, language . . . none of that matters, we are all the same . . . HUMAN!

When asked what race I am on various forms, I have taken to just writing HUMAN, as opposed to ALIEN from outer space, or a ROBOT.

One more thing, I am sure of my HUMANITY, and I am also sure about my DNA now having ETERNITY stamped on it. I am destined to be in heaven forever, for I am now adopted by the eternal God who sent His One and Only Son to be incarnated as a total 100% human, and through His sacrifice to be able to adopt those that believe in Him as His own Children.

1 John 3: 1 Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God . . .(MKJV)

Therefore, now adopted as a child of the King, I no longer have to fantasize being a Princess, I am one! A Princess Bride!! The Bible tells me that . . .

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people . . .(MKJV)

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Now, is that something that can be tested for in a DNA test? Hmm, if it were possible, that might be an interesting test to do. As it is, only He knows the hearts of those that are genuinely His, and I think we can all be okay with that.

So, in conclusion, I don’t care a whit what heritage I have, except that I am an adopted child in the family of God. In this family, all differences are done away with. He sees no difference, we are all equal, and equally loved.

Galatians 3:26 For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.(MKJV)

The invitation to that adoption is for all people, anywhere, anytime. There is no wrong place, no wrong time, no one is excluded, no matter what your DNA, or what you have been through, or what you have done.

What’s holding you back? If you already are in the family, then . . . tell others!!!