Do you know what you sow?

I was listening to a Sara Groves song entitled "Generations". She talks about Eve taking the forbidden fruit in the garden and the ramifications of it. The chorus says “Remind me in every decision, generations will reap what I sow. I can pass on a curse or a blessing to those I will never know.”

What a powerful statement. We rarely think, especially with the small decisions, the impact it will have on others who come after us.

The reality is that we all are damaged in some way, and to varying degrees. Curses are handed down when I act in our own self-interest. Blessings are when I act in another’s best interest. And the trickery is that the more unrealized the damage is in my life, the more reflexively I act in my own self-interest, all the while deceiving myself about the meaning of the act.

And when the damage to a person or a family system is great enough, curses are handed down and defined as blessings to those in the family who have to accept the family’s definition, because they don’t know better. I have known such families, and the children wrestle with trying to figure out why a blessing can feel so bad.