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“Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards - the things we live by and teach our children - are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.” -Walt Disney
Every birthday of every person of every year found the Clarksons gathered for an elaborate morning breakfast, delighting in the food, conversation and belonging together. Following the feast was verbalizing the amazing and wonderful character qualities that we appreciated about the birthday person. Everyone participated and then we prayed for their year. We still do it whenever we are together. We were building a heritage.
Heritage: Belonging or becoming a part of a specific society or culture by cultivating traditions, repeating the stories of a group’s past, while valuing common foods, languages, life practices that help define the people who are a part of that culture.
Cultural heritage gives our lives historical significance and helps define the legacy we will carry on to the generations yet to come. When a child has a sense of his family culture, the traditions they practice over a lifetime, it provides a sense of confidence in who he or she is and what light and goodness that culture has brought to the world.
If we just focus on performance (grades, test scores, accomplishments) in the lives of our children, we do not provide the roots that will help them become stable as they live well into their story in the world. Roots are deepened over time and require watering, protection, the right environment in which to grow.
Clarksons’ heritage and culture is built on many things:
*We are a people of words and ideas and have spent thousands of hours talking, discussing ideas, reading to build this heritage.
*We are a people of feasting, of writing, of music,
*We are a people of faith in the living, personal Christ who companions us every day
*We are a people of creation, nature, seeing the artist God every day in His world
What is your heritage? What helps give your children meaning and history? Build a sense of belonging today.
Today, I talked with my friend, Amber O’Neil Johnston, about her new book, A Place to Belong, that speaks so beautifully of how to build a sense of family heritage and how to celebrate the stories that make us ourselves. This book beautifully casts a vision for our deep need to belong and to find meaning in our family’s personal stories.
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