We are all family

Good Morning,

There is an old German Proverb which reads, “Blood is thicker than water”¹ dating back to 1180.  It generally means that the bonds of family and common ancestry are stronger than those bonds between unrelated people, such as that found in friendship.

Much like just about anything else, there are always exceptions, for there are some people I’ve met that wouldn’t walk across the street for a family member and instead put all of their faith and efforts in a newfound friend.  On the flipside, I have seen others that will risk and even give their life for another, especially in battle, but these tend to be the exception and certainly good fodder for another time.

What I am thinking about here are actual blood relationships and how we will do things for a family member that we wouldn’t even consider for a friend or acquaintance, let alone someone we have never met.  It seems there is a dynamic force that can cause us to quickly forgive, stretch the limits of our ethics, marginalize our integrity, take on financial burdens and even go as far as to give body parts when needed, all for the sake of the “blood”.

So my question is “What is it that creates this kind of bond?”

• Could it be that helping a family member is in some esoteric way helping ourselves?
• Is it because family members are linked with us like no other through our common DNA?
• Does it go beyond the physical to some kind of a psychic connection when we share these commonalities?  There are cases of twins separated at birth that have this kind of connection while others experience similar experiences knowing each other.
• Could it be just a social expectation/obligation imposed on us by a somewhat civilized society?
• Could it be a throwback to when we were even less civilized and depended on our family group for protection and survival?
• Could this tendency be intrinsically written in our genes?  If so, it becomes the natural thing to do in protecting our own.

In nature looking out for family members happens all the time, I believe it occurs mostly with mammals.  So maybe it isn’t such a conscious decision after all. (Don’t you just love Meerkats?)

So for whatever the reason, physiological, physical, social or cosmic, the tendency does exist and I personally believe it is a good thing.  I see it as how we have survived so long in this world.  Now… if we, and I mean everyone, could just recognize that we are all family and ultimately are all related², albeit to a very distant ancestor… then act accordingly.

It could/would be a different world we now live in.  Kind of a “Heaven on Earth” you could say.  Maybe that was the whole idea to begin with.

Love, Dad

Notes:

1. Originally: Blut ist dicker als Wasser.
2. For more information on this read, The Seven Daughters of Eve by Brian Sykes (I did).

Note: the Amazon Link to the book is not an affiliate link.  I don’t get paid if you go there.  I found the book and the science behind it quite interesting.

Images:

• The Family Silhouette came from London Natural Planning web site.  I Couldn’t find who to give the credit for that one.
• Cave Drawing Photo came from the McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs
• Meerkat Family Photo by Thomas Dressler at Arkive.org