When I first saw this painting, I thought of my ancestors.   The artist captured so much in this scene.  I thought of countries far away and of ancestral traditions.  I don’t know where it came from but I would like to imagine that it is a painting of my ancestors . . . my family.

I believe that knowing my ancestors is essential. I believe that my feet slip into the footprints they left for me just as surely as if I had walked beside them. Whether I knew they would be my family before I came to this earth, I can’t say for certain but I believe that I will see them again.  My beliefs about families and the importance of finding them and linking them are strengthened as my understanding of spiritual things increases. It takes getting a little older to understand some things.  Most of my direct ancestors heard the message of the Restored Gospel preached by the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and embraced it.  Their baptisms followed their conversions. Their voyages and treks followed next.  Their sacrifices followed as well.  Scores of ancestral journals chronicle the joy and the hardship of their journeys.  Many gave their lives in the defense of their faith.  Most endured hardships that I can only imagine.

I feel a weighty obligation to my ancestors.  I want our circle to be unbroken.  I want our links to be welded together.  If someone is missing, I want to look until I find them. Just the way I would look for someone in life.  It is more than just an interest or a hobby.   Searching for my ancestors has become a spiritual journey.  With each discovery of a face or name or place or document or census I feel that I have discovered an old friend.  Someone connected to me.

I believe that my ancestors reach out to me.  They whisper where to find them.  Where to find the clues they left behind.  I believe that I will know them when I see them.  Know their faces.  Know their stories.  Know their trials and their triumphs.  And, they will know how hard I tried to find their trail, their paths, their travels, their families and their clues.