How Finding My Ancestors Helped Me to Find Myself
Introduction Have you ever heard of something called "the Dark Night of the Soul"? It's a period of deep loneliness, despair, and often the mark of a crossroads in a person's life. For as long as I could remember, I was praying to something, or someone, whom I thought looked upon me with love - a giant benevolent man in the clouds that was omniscient, and according to the Bible made the world in about a week. I prayed to the Christian God devoutly (or whatever devoutness could look like for a 6 year-old), and made sure to thank Jesus, his only begotten son, for whom he had sacrificed to absolve everyone's sins. I also called on the Holy Spirit to "fill up" my life and lead me to salvation, in hopes that I wouldn't go to yet another hell because Lord knew my life on Earth thus far had been hell enough. Over the years leading up to that night, I had really taken the time to build a catalog of my life up until then. It was my junior ye...