Inheritance

Our first grandchild was born this week.  Wow, what a good time that is.

As with any new parents/grandparents, there is this immediate reaction that takes place.  "He looks just like his father."   "I think he's got his mother's nose."  This, of course, is one of the wonderful things about a new life coming into the world.  Throughout the coming weeks, months, and years there will be that journey of discovery that is both a recognition of those inherited traits and tendencies, and those things that  make each child unique in their own right.

Part of the delight of being a new parent/grandparent is knowing that the torch has been passed to a new generation.  What combination of gifts, personality traits, and physical attributes will a child be shaped by?  A mom and dad, and by extension, the grandmas and grandpas, pass on so much that will shape that child's life.  Some of it is nurture.  Some of it is nature.  All of it shapes who we are.

In the midst of the excitement of a new birth one always tends to focus on the positives.  And yet there is the shadow side as well.

After undergoing both open heart surgery to repair a mitral valve, just like my dad had to have done, and after having knee surgery to repair degenerative damage similar to what my mother suffered with in her knees, I lamented that I had inherited my dad's heart and my mom's knees.  It would have been much better to inherit my mom's heart and my dad's knees.

We returned from the hospital and our first visit with our grandson, and then, prior to bed, I took my medications.  And I wondered.  What gifts from grandpa are written into the genetic code of this precious young life?

There are of course, things I'd love to pass on.  I imagine a day when Jasper and I will work away in my woodshop on some marvelous little creation.  I'd love to be able to pass on my craftsmanship.  Music has always been important to me.  Will he raise his voice in song, or play the tuba?  What about the ability to create in other ways, to envision possibilities, to do new things?  And I wonder about things such as the faith that has shaped my life.  Is that a legacy I can share with my grandson?

And then, I take the pills.

There is a genetic component to bipolar disorder.  None of my children have been diagnosed with this disease yet.  But then neither was I until later in life.  My prayer, of course, is that of all the things I might share with my children and grandchildren, bipolar disorder is not one of them.  I would not wish the violent mood changes on anybody.  Not the manic highs, nor the dark valleys.  And certainly not the harsh transitions between the two.  As I contemplate this, I pray for his mom's genes to be dominant in this area.  I pray for that for each of my children, and now for my grandchildren.

And yet, amid all the concerns, this one thing I know.  That even if the little one is bipolar, and one day experiences the swings from manic highs to depressive lows, he will be loved.  His life will remain precious.  Amid all the struggles that may come, there will also be a giftedness.  And he will be a child of God, created in the image of  God.

And as I imagine that possibility, I am reminded to accept it as a reality in my own life as well.  Being bipolar has shaped my life.  But it need not diminish the value and worth of my life, for that is a gift rooted in God's grace.  Created in God's image is finally the only thing that matters.  It's that part of our DNA that is the final word on our life.  The struggles that we have may have shaped who we are -- but that we are, and whose we are, and our intrinsic value are all a gift of God's grace.