A Seal and a Promise: Unimpeachable Witness
Day 1: Unimpeachable Witness
According to those with ultimate power in determining these things, my mother was not my mother. Neither was she the mother of all but one of our siblings.
I had no doubt that she was our mother. Obviously, I cannot personally attest to her delivery of my two older sisters or to my own delivery—and I was only two when my first brother was born. But I can fully vouch for her delivery of all the other siblings in my family!
The legal documents in front of us said otherwise. Our mother’s name on her birth certificate did not bear the slightest resemblance to Name of Mother on ours.
Birth record discrepancies are not uncommon in many Caribbean societies, especially in rural areas. The documentation processes of the past were loosely defined, and even more loosely executed.
Childbirth occurred “in community”, and the logistics of recording—with its jumble of informally assigned tasks—meant that critical lifelong information could be impacted by the capabilities and limitations of the proverbial "village.” In the mix of role-players—including midwives, helpers, “messengers,” neighbors, and recording clerks—a million factors such as schedules, superstitions, persuasions, literacy, eyesight, and handwriting—could easily influence the accuracy of birth records.
Added to all this were the numerous living arrangements and family structures—mounted on everything from bloodlines and economic necessity, to pure happenstance. In our mother’s case, she had been unofficially “adopted” at three months old by her paternal grandparents, and she knew no other name than the one they called her.
It took extensive research of old baptismal records, the help of a kind and patient priest of ancient tenure, and the services of a lawyer, before the adequate documentation was produced, and an affidavit was prepared. And finally, our mother became our mother! Absurd, of course—she had been our mother all along. Nevertheless, the necessity for clear evidence was completely understandable.
In an amazing way, God too, has provided incontrovertible evidence of the parentage of believers in Christ. Never has there been any question even from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8 - NKJV), but God has provided clear evidence to satisfy any doubt, any challenge, any requirement.
In these evil days (Ephesians 5:16), when the ground beneath us shakes and moves—literally and figuratively—with increasing intensity and frequency, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Timothy 2:19).
And in all the doubts, fears, uncertainties and insecurities of life, God's unimpeachable witness—the [Holy] Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16 - NKJV). That is the ultimate Affidavit!
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