The True Tie That Binds

By Anita Aurit

There are those who believe that the only true family tie is blood. Their requirement for full acceptance into the tribe is to be born into the family circle. Marriage gives you a limited pass, not full membership. To receive all the familial rights and privileges, you must have emerged from the same gene pool.

I’ve never understood this way of thinking. Perhaps this is due to my family dynamics. As a result of the physical and emotional abuse we suffered from my alcoholic father, my mother, sister, brother and I, like Scarlett O’Hara, were often forced to “rely on the kindness of strangers”. Over the years these strangers became as close and as loved as any family member.

My mother was a German immigrant, an only child and without any stateside relatives. My father had a wonderful brother and sister but they lived many states away. Visits to them were too few and far between.

Rather than playing the hand dealt us, over the years we stacked the deck with people who became pseudo family members. Our little single wide trailer would burst at the seams every holiday with those we loved and many we barely knew who had no family of their own. Although money was scarce and my mother worked two jobs, she always managed to provide a beautiful buffet and even place little gifts for everyone under the Christmas tree. My longing for a “normal” family was partially fulfilled during these holiday events as we enjoyed a family gathering without the traditional family. We all were grafted together in a crazy quilt of a pseudo family tree. It wasn’t DNA that made us family, it was love, respect, commitment to each other and the honest joy in being together.

Today, as a Christ follower, I have an even better perspective of the concept of blood being thicker than water. The phrase is true but only in the context of faith. The blood that truly binds us together is the blood of Christ. There is nothing that can create family and community better than a shared faith in Jesus Christ. We are grafted onto the family tree of Abraham through the blood, we are joined together in the eternal family of God through the blood, and we are redeemed and saved by the blood.

Yes, the blood of Christ is thicker than water and it is an indicator of family ties. The icing on the cake in this familial relationship is when those family ties are forever intertwined with your earthly family. What joy I find in sharing my faith with my brother and sister. This was a blessing I enjoyed with my mother when she was alive as well.

Blest be the true tie that binds us together!