I don't often get the chance to watch "Who Do You Think You Are" but when I do I always find it compelling viewing.
Watching celebrities digging up their family history can prove addictive even when you know the producers are going flat out to tug at your heart strings.
And I always know we're in for a happy ending when I hear the guest saying something like, "Well I hope it won't be long before we find something a bit more cheerful."
And so it proved when EastEnder's star Danny Dyer decided to explore the murky waters of his family history. There were the inevitable dark moments of course (what else would you expect in Victorian London) but the programme did eventually finish on a high note with the 'discovery' that he was a direct descendant of King Edward III.
Dyer was so pumped up by this news. I just hope he didn't read Edward Tew's put down in the Guardian.
"Danny Dyer's 22x great grandfather is most definitely Edward III," he writes.
"But although 22 might not sound like a lot, the exponential nature of ancestry means that the medieval king is just one of millions of 22x great grandparents that Danny Dyer has. So considering that the population of England in 1400 – 23 years after Edward died – was roughly 2.5 million, it's actually not surprising at all that he is a direct descendant. In fact, you probably are as well."
Ah well we can all dream although it is worth remembering that we are all related to Adam too!
But as I watched a highly entertaining programme which focused on London's East End and gave me the opportunity to revisit an area I got to know well whilst a student at Queen Mary College, I couldn't help reminding myself that I should be infinitely more excited about my future than I am about my past.
For when I look at Jesus I don't just see what I should be like. I see what I will be like. And that gives me the determination to be more like Him now, even though it can often prove incredibly challenging.
Let me give you one or two examples. It's obvious that Jesus stood out because of his 'openness' to others. He was open to scrutiny and never sought to hide behind platitudes. He was a man of integrity too. As someone rightly said "hypocrisy and cant" had no place in his life.
In addition to this, he always tried to encourage those He met whatever their gender, social background or moral failure for the simple reason that He wanted them to discover a more fulfilling way of life. And He wasn't proud either as He so clearly showed when He washed His disciples' feet. In so doing He showed them - and us - just how much He loves this world.
D H Lawrence famously wrote, "Hate is not the opposite of love. The real opposite of love is individuality."
Given the suffocating influence of our "selfie culture " I think it's about time more of us did our best to live up to our God given potential, don't you?
Rob James is a Baptist minister, writer and church and media consultant to the Evangelical Alliance Wales. He is the author of Little Thoughts About a Big God.
