Pondering Pocahontas

Many years ago as a young child and to my absolute joy, I was told I was related to Pocahontas (the daughter to Native American chief Powhatan) on my mother’s side.  She was my great, great, great times a bazillion grandmother.  When I attended elementary school I remember telling my classmates about the family relationship, many didn’t believe me.  Heartbroken I went home that day and asked mom for the typed piece of paper that explained the connection out of the family documents. With the piece of paper I could prove I was not making up stories.  I showed up the next day and in defense of my honor, proudly gave the document to my teacher.  In turn she confirmed to the class, that in fact, Brandy Smith was not a BIG FAT LIAR and Brandy Smith must be pretty cool because she is related to Pocahontas.  All of this was well received, with my pride restored I carried on with life.  As the years went on, I kept the interesting story close to my heart.  Every now and then it came up in conversation and I would retell the story I was related to Pocahontas.  Because Pocahontas’ story was part of my story I wanted to learn more about her life.  I also developed a pet peeve because most people think she married John Smith when she actually only saved his life, Pocahontas married John Rolfe.  And by the way thanks Disney for perpetuating the inaccuracy with your cartoon movie, shame, shame! 

As time went on and I became an adult, I asked my mom if I could glance at the document containing our lineage on it once more.  When she found it and I looked it over, I was surprised at the skepticism that jumped up inside of me.  Granted it was many years ago it was typed out and on one of those pesky type writers that are practically extinct now.  But what I saw was a messy document full of misspelled characters and unprofessional spacing.  As a child I never noticed this, actually it looked pretty formal back then when I didn’t even own a typewriter.  So I inquired if mom knew who wrote it and who researched our family tree, she wasn’t sure.  Now my cynical nature was in full force.  In 2010 mom and I finally made our first trip to the Jamestown settlement on the eastern coast of Virginia.  While we were in the visitor center we went into the gift shop, promptly located a book on the lineage of Pocahontas and scanned the pages.  Turning through them with anticipation, we came to Q, R, S, there is the S…is my mother’s maiden name Slate listed?  That would be a NEGATIVE.  No mention of ANY Slate family as descendants of Pocahontas.  There were a few names that matched what that old sheet of paper had listed but somewhere along the way something had went wrong in the research of our family tree.  My claim to fame was over!

So like a lot of families all around me, mine is nothing special.  We don’t come from a long line of royalty, or an insanely rich entrepreneur, and no celebrities return home for Christmas dinner.  It seems as if the world we live in attributes these things as being special, worthwhile, and praise-worthy.  And many times I can get caught up in the mind set myself.  We race around trying to get to the next big accomplishment, milestone, or job title.  But when I return to the word of God I am reminded of how God sees these things.  In 1 Corinthians 1:27 it says,” But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”  God can and does use what the world considers ordinary or weak.  I often come back to a portion of Scripture in 2 Samuel 7:18 describing David’s reflections about his position.  “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:  ‘who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?’”  I am not a king and I can still relate to this thought, who am I Lord?  And I know the answer, I am NO ONE.  Please don’t misunderstand my intent; I am not bashing myself or my family.  But in the grand scheme of things, I really am what the world would call a “nobody.”  Even by biblical standards of the Old Testament I am considered a Gentile, unworthy, and with no hope of salvation under the law.   But in God’s loving kindness He has given me, a Gentile, the way to become a child of God.   By the atoning sacrifice that Jesus made by suffering crucifixion for the sins of the world.  Jesus’ death and resurrection brought salvation to anyone that puts their faith in Him.  And when I think about my family and the life I was living, I ask “Who am I Lord and what is my family that you have brought me this far?”  Salvation is the best and most important gift I have ever received.  It is something I did not earn and I did not deserve.  It brings me comfort to know that God loves the nobodies, the ordinary, and the weak.