Not My Relatives

A number of months ago I was walking in the hills above where we live and I saw a tree with some unusual looking fruit.  I had forgotten about that tree until I came across a photo of these fruit last week which enabled me to identify the tree.

Turns out the tree is called Engelhardtia spicata and it is in the Botanical plant family Juglandaceae.



Juglandaceae!?!

I remember that from my forestry school days.  That is the same plant family as pecans…



and walnuts…



How can these relatively closely related trees have such different fruit.   I think of Juglandaceae and I think of large, edible nuts.  And here is this tree in Wiang Kaen with a small, leafy bract at the base of which is a minute seed.

The relationship between these trees as being in the same plant family is determined by scientists using the principals of phlyogenetics-trying to figure out what might have derived from common ancestors based on genetic studies.  The results are sometimes quite interesting, with apparently related organisms having very dissimilar appearances.

As we look through there trees and roots of our human family relationships, we may often be surprised at who our relatives are.  We may be quick to trace some line of our family tree back to some famous, good person.  We are perhaps less apt to make the connections to notorious criminals.  There may be cousins we wish to deny relationship with.  Other relatives make us question the veracity of the adage, "the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree."

"We can't pick our relatives," the saying goes.

And while we can't pick who we're related to, we can choose how we relate to them.

Ultimately, we're all related to each other.  It's our choice how we relate to all these relatives.

Jesus told us that one of the great commandments is to "love your neighbor as yourself."  And he chose to illustrate the concept of neighbor with a person who would be regarded more like an enemy.  (Luke 10:25-37)

Elsewhere, Jesus was more direct.  "Love your enemies," He said. (Matthew 5:44)

I confess, I am not always a fan of that commandment.

My dad was fond of they saying, "There are no strangers, only friends I haven't met."

But it is hard to keep up that sentiment with people who are threatening to annihilate you.  It's hard to love someone who killed or hurt someone you love. And it is easier to not love someone if they aren't like you.

So just because you're a walnut and they're an Engelhardtia, and you don't look anything like them, it doesn't mean you're not related.

I can think of lots of reasons no to love some people or even some whole categories of people.  But Jesus didn't give us this option.

Ultimately, Jesus showed us how to love our enemies by offering up His life for those who hated him (which would include me).  "While we were yet sinners", Paul writes, "Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8).  Jesus did not wait for me to start loving Him before He started loving me.

Someone has to make the first move.

In this day and age we justify the killing of people as a preemptive strike.  "Kill them before they kill us," we say.

Jesus was all about preemptive strikes: Love them before they love you.

Love your enemies.

After all, they're your relatives.