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ENLARGE
Beverly Wellington
When I attended the California Family History Expo in Redding, Calif., last month, Janet Hovorka's class “Serendipity and Other Miracles: Why you need Family History” intrigued me.
Hovorka spoke about reasons for seeking our ancestors such as: gaining a sense of belonging, getting a better perspective of our individual family history, obtaining healing through understanding family issues, finding ourselves, and learning more about our family medical history.
She spoke of serendipity, quoting author Megan Smolenyak, a well known genealogist, who said, “If you were to gather 50 genealogists in a room, chances are that 45 of them would readily admit to having experienced a few unexplainable incidents in their search for roots.”
I have read many articles by Megan Smolenyak but prior to this conference did not know she had written a book titled, “In Search of Our Ancestors, 101 Inspiring Stories of Serendipity and Connection in Rediscovering Our Family History.” This book is the product of the many serendipity stories she heard while filming the TV show “Ancestors.” She stated the subject came up so much it could not be ignored.
In Hovorka's presentation she mentioned C. S. Lewis writing about the “numinous,” a sense of awe, a feeling that you are in the presence of something or someone beyond the normal. She comments on her Web site, “The genealogist is left with a feeling of awe, as if his or her ancestors are helping with the search.” Certainly this fulfills the sense of numinous.
People report meeting cousins through strange happenstance, having family bibles found or given in miraculous ways, books that fall open to just the right page, a car breaking down in front of a cemetery where ancestors are buried (cemetery stories of all kinds abound), pictures and family heirlooms surfacing under unusual circumstances, premonitions of preserving or moving records prior to calamitous occurrences, and the list goes on.
I have had such experiences. I have also heard and read of others. I had not however connected the word “serendipity” with what I always thought of as intuition or spiritual promptings. I did not realize so much had been written about such occurrences. Those reporting such experiences do not seem to belong to any specific religion or form of sacred thought. It appears to be universal.
On Hovorka's Web site, thechartchick.com, she says, “You know I think the word I like best in genealogy serendipity is ‘miracles.' I think genealogy brings all sorts of miracles into your life. It certainly has brought miracles into my life and it gives me this amazing sense of awe. It's just one of the many things that make genealogy so exciting and fun.” She also says “…if you have not yet run into serendipity, you just have not done enough genealogy.”
I especially liked the quote Hovorka used at the close of her class. It was penned by her great-grandfather, Joseph Hatten Carpenter, a master genealogist who lived to be 103 years old. He said, “One arises from the study of genealogy with a clearer and more charitable conception of the whole brotherhood of man.” I believe this is true.
More information on genealogical serendipity can be found at cyndislist.com or you can Google: serendipity-genealogy.
Writing this column was on my mind as I returned home. Just prior to going to bed the thought came to me that I should look in a book I purchased at the Expo. It was late but the thought was persistent. As I picked up the book, it fell open to a chapter on examples of genealogical serendipity. Coincidence? I think not.
Beverly Wellington is director of the Roseburg Family History Center at 2001 W. Bertha, Roseburg , 672-1237. The center is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. You can be reached Beverly at bevwel@gmail.com
Hovorka spoke about reasons for seeking our ancestors such as: gaining a sense of belonging, getting a better perspective of our individual family history, obtaining healing through understanding family issues, finding ourselves, and learning more about our family medical history.
She spoke of serendipity, quoting author Megan Smolenyak, a well known genealogist, who said, “If you were to gather 50 genealogists in a room, chances are that 45 of them would readily admit to having experienced a few unexplainable incidents in their search for roots.”
I have read many articles by Megan Smolenyak but prior to this conference did not know she had written a book titled, “In Search of Our Ancestors, 101 Inspiring Stories of Serendipity and Connection in Rediscovering Our Family History.” This book is the product of the many serendipity stories she heard while filming the TV show “Ancestors.” She stated the subject came up so much it could not be ignored.
In Hovorka's presentation she mentioned C. S. Lewis writing about the “numinous,” a sense of awe, a feeling that you are in the presence of something or someone beyond the normal. She comments on her Web site, “The genealogist is left with a feeling of awe, as if his or her ancestors are helping with the search.” Certainly this fulfills the sense of numinous.
People report meeting cousins through strange happenstance, having family bibles found or given in miraculous ways, books that fall open to just the right page, a car breaking down in front of a cemetery where ancestors are buried (cemetery stories of all kinds abound), pictures and family heirlooms surfacing under unusual circumstances, premonitions of preserving or moving records prior to calamitous occurrences, and the list goes on.
I have had such experiences. I have also heard and read of others. I had not however connected the word “serendipity” with what I always thought of as intuition or spiritual promptings. I did not realize so much had been written about such occurrences. Those reporting such experiences do not seem to belong to any specific religion or form of sacred thought. It appears to be universal.
On Hovorka's Web site, thechartchick.com, she says, “You know I think the word I like best in genealogy serendipity is ‘miracles.' I think genealogy brings all sorts of miracles into your life. It certainly has brought miracles into my life and it gives me this amazing sense of awe. It's just one of the many things that make genealogy so exciting and fun.” She also says “…if you have not yet run into serendipity, you just have not done enough genealogy.”
I especially liked the quote Hovorka used at the close of her class. It was penned by her great-grandfather, Joseph Hatten Carpenter, a master genealogist who lived to be 103 years old. He said, “One arises from the study of genealogy with a clearer and more charitable conception of the whole brotherhood of man.” I believe this is true.
More information on genealogical serendipity can be found at cyndislist.com or you can Google: serendipity-genealogy.
Writing this column was on my mind as I returned home. Just prior to going to bed the thought came to me that I should look in a book I purchased at the Expo. It was late but the thought was persistent. As I picked up the book, it fell open to a chapter on examples of genealogical serendipity. Coincidence? I think not.
Beverly Wellington is director of the Roseburg Family History Center at 2001 W. Bertha, Roseburg , 672-1237. The center is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. You can be reached Beverly at bevwel@gmail.com
