Something dawned on me last week. Seems like one of those things that should be common knowledge, something so obvious nobody needs or wants to talk about it. But, it was a new idea to me and one I can't get out of my head.
At least one of my direct ancestors was alive at every moment in human history.
Imagine any point in the past - ancient, Medieval, or modern - and I guarantee you that one of my direct ancestors was alive. Painting caves in France, building pyramids, conquesting with Alexander, bringing down Rome, the period doesn't matter - my ancestors were there (somewhere).
The truth of this is obvious because if at any moment in time prior to my birth at least one of my direct ancestors wasn't alive I wouldn't exist. Chenowski's chain of being would have been broken.
Since new thoughts with profound potential don't come my way every day, I was impressed by the implications. While everything prior to the emergence of K-Mart seems remote to me, my DNA has seen it all. I'm just the latest link in a chain that stretches back to the beginning. Well, my daughter would be the latest link, but you see what I mean.
It's an idea that allows no exceptions. My ancestors couldn't sit out for an historic period or two. One break in the chain, no matter how far back you go, and there's no Chenowski.
I can even forget human history for the moment. The chain of being idea isn't limited to that recent development.
Where did my chain begin? Did it even have a beginning?
Let's say you're in the Darwin camp when it comes to explaining how we arrived at 2007. If you reject the possibility of spontaneous creation, the implication is that your lineage is eternal. Humans evolved from something that was sub-human, and that sub-human evolved from something even more sub-human, and on and on. In fact, it's "on and on" until you get to the point when there was no biological life at all.
The physical evidence points to the Earth having a beginning. Maybe a big bang birth, a hunk of hot exploding star-like material racing through space until the law of gravity worked its magic.
Article Author: Brad Chenowski
Chenowski is a stay-at-home proud father and husband. He writes about a specialized area of music for a living.
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