Lineage has special importance because it connects life and love from the past, to the present and into the future. If you trace your lineage back in time you will eventually encounter the first man and the first woman. Scientists now dub the first female ancestor as Mitochondrial Eve, after the biblical image of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Science has revealed that all human beings have common ancestors.
Every culture offers different names for these first ancestors we all share but we are talking about the same two people. Humankind has a starting point and this first set of parents, whatever their names, initiated a way of relating and a tradition of love that has trickled down through history.
Today, you hear psychologists say that we can’t love fully because we were not given adequate or real love by our parents. Our parents can say the same thing, all the way back to that first man and woman. Our first parents did not leave a tradition of love for their descendants that expressed love as God intended.
Whether we recognize it or not, how we live and love is impacted by our family of origin. Our definition of love, as well as the limitations and constraints we experience when it comes to love are rooted in our family tree. This is why every generation struggles with love.
