Brother's and Sister's

What does this mean: Blood is thicker than water? Does it mean that if I had to chose between a friend or a relative, then the one who shares the same last name comes first? But doesn't the very origin of a family begin with two strangers? I am my mother and father's flesh and blood, however, they were strangers when they met - complete strangers. Now imagine if they would've chose their families over being with one another? Or perhaps, what if they would've married one of their own, like "kissing cousins"?

What about those souls who have never known their biological mother or father, but someone else decided to step in and take care of them? If they had to chose between their biological mother or the woman who truly raised them, which should they chose?

Now I don't think it's fair to ever have to chose, so why do people do it? I for one, believe in the spiritual family. However, I think the biological family tree has its purpose in this physical world, although I also believe that every human relationship has a spiritual connection at the root as well. And one is not more significant than the other. They just play different roles.

Think about the woman who has children from 3 different fathers, or the man who has children by 3 different women. All of those children are related although they are technically referred to as "half brothers and half sisters", but isn't that a strange term to be called when they all came from the same woman's womb, or all share the same DNA from their father? All I know, is that if you were born from a different person, than you would not be YOU. So there has to be a divine reason as to why you were born through the physical parents you were born from, whether they were involved in your upbringing or not, you would be a totally different person all together. And I never believed that God made mistakes. Even the fact that you may have a parent who died while giving birth, or who moved away or left for whatever reason, that very absentee has affected and shaped you as a person. And I believe that our childhood upbringing is no accident. I believe that they prepare us for our future, and God, our heavenly father and mother, has planned this all out.

Call me crazy - but that's just what I believe.

Therefore, I believe in the spiritual family. When parents go to work, their children are left with teachers Monday through Friday from 9 am until 3 pm. In all fairness, can't we say that those teachers are part-time parents? And when we develop friendships with unique people who truly and really "get us", aren't those like sisters and brothers to us? Those friends who share all of our dirty little secrets, and celebrate good times with. I think sometimes we get confused with titles, the same way we do when we run to a police officer for help and they disappoint us because it turns out that the cop is a racist or a bigot. (Not suggesting that they all are) But sometimes we assume that because someone holds a specific title such as mother, father, sister, and brother, that it makes them family, and that friends and neighbors are less important. Like we should help a relative no matter what, but if a friend is in trouble, then it's not our problem.

Are we forgetting the very thing that makes us family are the strangers in whom we "expand" our families with? (Unless of course we want to marry our "kissing cousins") Family to me, has not so much to do with sharing the same last name and/or a similar blood line, but it has more to do with seeing the divinity in each human being - the link that ties us all together as a human family to accomplish our earthly tasks. I know that there is life after death. Perhaps not the life as we know it in this world - obviously. But I believe that death is a transition into another realm of existence because energy is infinite. Hence, our souls evolve. They don't rot and decay like our bodies that are flesh and meat. Our souls travel to this earth and give energy into this body to walk, talk and build many things such as bridges, tunnels, buildings, airplanes, electricity, etc... and guess who use's those things? STRANGERS WHO COME HERE IN THE FOLLOWING GENERATIONS AFTER WE LONG PASS OUT OF HERE.

How remarkable is that? That people who have invented some of the most wonderful tools have died hundreds of years ago, and we never met these people in person but we are benefiting from their ideas, and life is made easier because of them. Is that not family or what? When you drive across a bridge, or take a plane to go on your honeymoon, it's all because of a bunch of strangers who you may never get to meet, who created these things for our enjoyment.

So does it matter who we know, or who we don't know? Who shares the same last name, or who doesn't? There is some truth that our "immediate" families have the greatest impact on our growth as they are the one's we communicate with on a daily basis when we're infants and children, but as we spread our wings and fly out into this grand world made of seven great continents, can we remember that we're all in this together?

One simple action I make will effect one person in either a small way or a major way, but either way, my action will either inspire someone to do something great or to do something horrible because we all react to one another. At work, at school, at home and on vacation. No matter where we go, we all react to one another. So be good to that stranger, because he could become your husband, or your daughters husband, or the president, or a great inventor, or just another member of the tree of life. And that life, we are all connected to because in the end, we are all brothers and sisters.