Everyone's Story is Epic

 

 

 

"Covenant of Water," "Pachinko," and "Roots" are three books I've read this year that explore issues of shame, honor, and love over multiple generations. All three books moved me deeply, with excellent writing and exquisite character development and plentiful plot twists.

It strikes me that my connection to these stories runs deeper than the fact they are all great works of literature. The notion that family stories unfold over many generations is a powerful one for me. It reminds me that my life does not exist in a vacuum but rather flows from those who came before me and in turn flows into those who come after me.

All of us have a past that shapes who we are, what opportunities were available to us, what wounds we must work through. In turn, all of us influence a future that extends well beyond our lifetimes, in the form of the people we invest in and the values they learn from us.

As I grow older, it feels increasingly important to me to take time to think on these things. To consider how my life was influenced by that which preceded me: multiple generations of families in Taiwan (with some European blood mixed in), poverty turned into comfort, two hustling immigrant parents from whom I gained life opportunities and work ethic. 

I could not have conceived in advance, but I can now look back and evaluate, the twists and turns that have brought me to this present day. Going to the East Coast for college, the jobs I chose to devote my career to, the family Amy and I have built for ourselves. And then, those kids who God blessed us with, what paths will they take and what will they and their kids and their kids' kids get into?

Along the way, as with those great works of literature I have had the pleasure to savor this year, there have been instances of unimaginable blessing and crushing loss, of things honorable and dishonorable, of love gained and lost and fought for and secured. Every person's story is an incredible, multi-generation epic. I enjoyed reading three books that probed this brilliantly. I am realizing my own story is unfolding with similar wonder.