Do You Know Where You Came From?

My wife is a flight attendant and one of the perks of her job is that she gets to see many parts of the world, albeit, in short periods of time. She will sometimes have an extended layover (24 hours or so) in an interesting place and have the chance to get in a little sightseeing. On some occasions, if I’m able to take the time off and if there are available seats on the plane, I will travel with her and take advantage of the flight and the free accommodations in whatever 4 star hotel they put her up in.
     This last Monday, Linda had a full day layover in New York City, staying at a hotel just across the street from and overlooking the 911 Memorial and the under-construction new World Trade Center. So I joined her.
     Neither of us had ever been to The Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, so we elected to take the boat excursion to both. It just so happened that our daughter, Erica, had travelled to New York City with a friend that very day, so we met them on Ellis Island. It was a beautiful cool fall day, with the sun shining and trees in full color. But the real impact on me came from Ellis Island itself.
     I’ve known little of my family heritage past my grandparents. I knew that I came from immigrants from Germany on both sides of my family, but I didn’t even know who it was that immigrated. I remember my dad talking about his grandpa owning and operating a harness shop, but I didn’t remember whether that was in Germany or America. Then, a couple of weeks ago, my oldest son decided to try out the free month offered on ancestry.com and for just an hour, he did a little digging. He sent me a picture he found online of a man named Gabriel Ziegler, posing inside a shop that was filled with leather harnesses of all kinds. It was taken in Germany. He asked if the man might be family. Well, my dad’s middle name is Gabriel...I deduced that this was his grandpa. We learned then that my great grandpa, Gabriel Ziegler, closed his harness shop in the late 19th century, when he immigrated to the US through Ellis Island. He settled in southern Minnesota where he homesteaded a small farm and opened up a new harness shop.
  So once on Ellis Island, I went looking for him. Behind the great hall is a wall with many thousands of names etched in stainless steel, honoring those who registered their immigration on Ellis Island. And I found his name: my great grandpa, Gabriel H. Ziegler.
  I can’t say that it meant all that much to me, until we walked back into the great hall and registry room. The building has since been restored to what it had been when used for the millions of European immigrants who entered the country via New York. And looking at the photos from that time period, as well as seeing artifacts from many of these immigrants, I began to wonder what it was like for my ancestors who came here with very little, leaving all family behind with dreams of making a better life in this land of opportunity. I thanked God for giving Gabriel and others like him the courage to do what they did. We are the recipients of the risks taken and blessings passed on by those who blazed a trail before us.
  It has been said that a nation does not know where it is going unless it understands where it has been. And I think the same could be said for the Church. Getting a vivid picture of the sacrifices, passions, struggles and victories of the Church over the last 2,000 years will give us a better understanding of the mission before us. A great blessing of faith’s heritage has been passed on to us. Handing the baton off to the next generation, and doing so with continuity of mission and message will require a firm handle on our history. So let me encourage you, if you have not yet signed up for Junior’s Church history class to be taught on Monday evenings, sign up today. It will expand your appreciation for God’s work through the ages and increase your fervency for the future Church history yet to be written.