Jacob Heads Home

Today I read Genesis 32 where Jacob is returning to his own land and he is preparing to meet with his brother, Esau. This chapter reminds me of the Savior's counsel to not be angry with your brother when He is preaching the sermon on the mount. Jacob is very worried that Esau will not look upon him kindly because of what happened when they were together last and how Jacob stole Esau's blessing.

Family is an interesting thing. There are all kinds of attitudes regarding family from those like me who love their family and would like to see more of them than they are able, to those who tolerate their family to those who despise their family. The family is the basic building block of any society and God's foundation upon which all else is built. It is really a shame that so many of us, I think, take our families for granted. We feel like they will always be there no matter what and so we let so much time go by without reaching out to them. I imagine that God is saddened by this and wishes that His children were closer to one another. That is just my feeling however.

There is an old saying that I have heard that says you can choose your friends, but not your family. This is very true and while I recognize that not everyone is fortunate to have good family members, it is sad that so many do not try because of past hurts. They wrap themselves up in a cloak of their own misery and past wrongs done to them that they can't get past it and try to start over if needed. Now, that is not to say that in such a case it is all on the person doing the forgiving. It is not a requirement of course, but it is much easier to forgive someone who asks for it. Nevertheless, it is not a requirement for forgiveness, as we have discussed in the past. Some would argue it's harder to forgive a family member because they should know better. I argue that of all the people we should be forgiving, it should be our family members. They are closest to us. That is why this story, to me is so heartwarming, it is wonderful to see Jacob anxious to make amends with his brother, Esau, as we will see in the next chapter. And that is as good a stopping place as any. Until tomorrow.