Like Father, Like Sons

Genesis 25: 12-18

Short entry tonight- we're back to lists of names. A couple of quick observations though:

Ishmael passes on at the age of 137. Earlier in this chapter, Abraham's 175 was referred to as a "good old age."(NIV) I guess 137 isn't too shabby either. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they were 137 happy years.

After all the problems, it seems the dysfunction didn't end with Ishmael. This section ends with the idea that Ishmael's decendants "lived in hostility toward all their brothers."

I understand that each man answers for his own sins, but it seems like this quick glimpe into Ishmael's family might illustrate how easy it is to emulate the pain, bitterness, and selfishness you witness in your own family. It's amazing how easily one generation can mess up the next.
Even well-intentioned parents (like Abraham must have been...right?) can end up passing neuroses down the line whose effects are shown generations later. And the solution is not to avoid having children, not to try to become super-protective parents shielding your children from the world (this has it's own bundle of neuroses), but instead to do the best you can- to understand that some of your own pain, fears and neuroses are the result of things that aren't your fault.

It doesn't lessen your responsibility or desire to work through those items and become more than you were- but it helps to understand what you're going through. And the good news is, God is bigger than any of that pain.