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| "Happy Hill" by Drew John Tankersley |
Happy Sez- Often is heard talk about Heritage, the heritage of a family, a people, a nation or a culture and usually that talk is in grandiose terms, filled with platitudes and generalizations but what is Heritage, real Heritage? It is a question we must ask and need to answer before we can really understand ourselves. Heritage, it seems comes from two sources - one type of heritage we inherit from our past, from our family, our culture and our environment, the other we create ourselves and that is our legacy which with the heritage we inherit becomes part of the heritage we leave.
The heritage of a people or family can be expressed in terms of monetary wealth, the lands and special places, the silver of generations back and the potential for future wealth. These are all types of an inherited heritage, but heritage is much more that that - it is not just the lands, castle nor silver but it is the ideas, ideals and values that as a people or family we aspire to.
Now the question is what are these ideas, ideals and values we aspire to and more importantly - why.
Each person in every group of people, every culture is different giving them a unique perspective and reality, but it is the collection of similar experiences and inherited heritage that binds these different individuals together into a family, a culture and a nation. Not only does each individual have their own ideas, ideals and values but so does each culture and most of these are naturally guided by certain universal constants. These constants, like the land we live on are a part of our environment, our inherited heritage and while not all people or cultures are influenced by these constants most are and that is why we for the most part as individuals or groups want to leave a positive legacy and a positive heritage. A good name, present and future monetary wealth, icons and heirlooms are usually what most people and groups of people desire to receive and leave as a heritage rather than hate, death and despair. Two examples of different heritages left by two different people and their organizations can be shown by Mother Theresa and the Missionaries of Charity and Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, one followed the moral constants of their inherited heritage, the other did not. Both inherited a heritage completely different from each other except for one thing - the universal moral constants, both had them but only one choose to leave them as their heritage.
Now we know that the single most important part of our heritage as an individual or nation is the universal moral constants left to us. It is from acknowledging and following these constants that no matter how dark the rest of your heritage may be, that darkness will be turned into light. By following these constants that we all inherit we all inherit light, we all inherit the potential to leave a legacy of not just wealth but goodness. It is from these constants that the silver, lands and castle spring from, it is these constants that are the fountainhead for ideas, ideals and values, it is from these constants we find a purpose to our life and a reason for our heritage.
The only constant thing I know of is GOD.
