Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt and my great-grandfather were contemporaries. Teddy was born in Oyster Bay, New York, in 1858; Giovanni Gianotti was born in Turin, Italy, in 1859. The former outlived my ancestor by six years, with Teddy dying in 1919 at age 60 while Giovanni lived to the age of 54 and died in 1913. One became the 26^th president of the United States (1901-1909); the other ran a saloon in northern Minnesota. One was born into a wealthy family, educated by private tutors as a child and attended Harvard University; the other has no record of education.

One steered the United States as it emerged into the 20^th century, taking an expanded place in world politics; the other fled Italy, his country of birth, and settled as an emigrant in North America. One of these two won a Nobel Peace prize, but no records exist of the achievements of the other. Most significantly, one had a children’s stuffed bear named after him, while the historical record remains completely silent concerning any stuffed animal honoring the other.

Which of these two was the greatest? I, speaking quite biasedly, think it to be Giovanni, for everything he did affected my life. If he had never left Italy, he would not have met his Irish-Canadian wife, and I would then either not exist, or else be a completely different person. If he had not moved to America, I would probably be living in a villa under the shadow of the southern range of the Alps. If he had come from wealthy stock, would I be living in a very comfortable setting? If …? As it turns out, my pedigree is quite meager, uninteresting and somewhat unimpactful in terms of world influence—except to me— (my wife would say, “and me, too!”)

But what I find more significant is that Jesus Christ also came from a somewhat obscure stock. To be sure, his lineage included the kings of Judah, hearkening back to King David, but the line had pretty much petered out over the previous 400 years or so (the time equivalent to the differential between us today and the early 1600’s). Jesus wasn’t born into wealth; he carried on his father’s blue-collar job and was not educated in the prominent schools of the day. He had no physical children, but as the Bible says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). At my age now, I have lived longer than either Teddy or Giovanni, but I am a child of God, through faith in Christ, and I will live forever, as will all who come to faith in Christ. My pedigree has had a huge make over. While I was born into Giovanni’s family tree, I have been born again into God’s eternal family. My earthly birth was accompanied by the medical staff in a hospital in northern Minnesota and probably an announcement to the family, “You have a healthy baby boy.” But my spiritual birth invoked a much larger celebration:

“I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)