Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes describes the gifts and wisdom she has received from the ancestors of her faith and culture:
Although some folks use a very narrow definition of the word ancestor, I use the word as an indicator of legacy and interconnections. The ancestors are elders who pour their lives into the community as a libation of love and commitment. They live and die well, and when they transition, they do so in full connection with an engaged community. Thereafter, they dwell in the spaces carved out by our spiritual and cultural expectations. They may be in another life dimension, but they connect with us in dreams, in memories, and in stories….
The stories reveal a promise that the community will continue beyond the breath of one individual and that all transitions will be well attended by relatives from the other side. This is a cosmology of connection that values but also transcends cultural contexts; life is considered to be a continuum of transitions, ruptures, and returns. Those who admit that the “ordinary” is punctuated by the ineffable cherish those indescribable and nonrational events as an enigmatic but welcome gift. The fact that I grew up in a family that included the presumptions of transcendence and the unseen in our everyday lives has affected my journey in powerful ways….
The end result is that I know that I am not alone. I am connected to the past and the future by the ligatures of well-lived lives, the mysteries of “beyondness,” and the memories and narratives that lovingly bind and support me. While I hope that when I die, one of the elders in my family who have crossed over to the realm of the ancestors will be at my bedside, I certainly did not expect contact prior to that time. And yet here I am, [in my work] hearing from liberation leaders I have never personally met. As it turns out, they are also my elders as certainly as if they occupied a branch of my family tree. They have bequeathed to all of us a legacy of resolve, resistance, and spiritual expansiveness.
Holmes points to Jesus’ experience with his ancestors in faith:
Christianity hides its ancestors in plain view. Those familiar with the Bible know that Jesus had a very public conversation with ancestors in full view of chosen disciples [Matthew 17:1–13]…. We choose safe words and images like prayer and transfiguration to soothe our discomfort with ancestor contacts that require the crossing of dimensions…
Ancestors within the context of African Diasporan legacies are those family members who have poured out their lives for the good of the family. In life, they live well and for others. Although they are human and fail often, they are seldom deluded by the distractions of ego or the desire for earthly acquisitions. They also transition well to the other side and continue their intercession and prayers for the living.
Reference:
Barbara A. Holmes, Liberation and the Cosmos: Conversations with the Elders, rev. ed. (Fortress Press, 2023), 3–4, 9.
Image Credit: Ravi Sharma, untitled (detail), 2021, photo, India, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. There is a wisdom that knows humanity as one continuous breath—the veil between worlds thin and alive—where the memory of our ancestors moves through our very cells.
Story from Our Community:
This weekend my family, which is spread out all over the country, surprised me by coming together to celebrate my 70th birthday. The love that I have poured out over the years was reflected back to me in their words and presence. God’s love—given and received—received and given back again. A Divine exchange, an experience of the abundant generosity of love that literally took my breath away. God’s love and grace flowing through and surrounding us all. How blessed I am!
—Mary Sue B.
