Friends,
I have another note from the frontier to share with you today. In honor of the ancient Phoenicians from which we derive our name, I ventured out to an annual Lebanese festival at the St. Elias Maronite Church this weekend.
For those who may not know, Lebanon did not become an independent country until 1943. But the modern country of Lebanon houses the great Phoenician city-states of the ancient world. The three most prominent city-states – Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos – still exist by name today.
So I consider my journey to the Lebanese festival to be an annual pilgrimage of sorts. Here’s a picture I snapped of the Bell Tower that rises above the Maronite compound’s entrance:
This is the vantage point from the outside lawns. That bell tower marks the entrance to the compound which opens up into a courtyard with a fountain in the middle. The courtyard connects two large buildings – one of the left and one on the right.
The building to the left houses the kitchen and cafeteria. It offered festival-goers a wide array of Lebanese-style dishes. The building on the right houses the church, the library, and a set of classrooms for religious education.
I find this place to be fascinating.
For starters, the architecture mimics the classic Syriac Basilica Form that was common throughout the Mediterranean region in the 19th century. And the church’s stained glass windows depict historical figures – including St. Elias, whose legacy is more highly regarded in the Eastern Christian tradition.
What’s more, a part of the Maronite church service is still said in ancient Aramaic… which is closely related to the language that Jesus must have spoken. I love that the Maronite tradition strives to keep its history alive.
And that brings me to a concept that I’ve been thinking about recently – the idea that heritage is more important than inheritance.
For those of us who focus on personal finance and investing, estate planning is critical. If we’re going to build a bulletproof asset portfolio, then we need to be mindful about what happens to those assets after we depart from this world. That is to say, we have to think about leaving an inheritance.
That’s important… and much of our modern society knows that it is. Even those who aren’t terribly mindful with their finances still talk about inheritances.
However, passing on our heritage is far more important.
When we talk about heritage, we’re talking about the history, traditions, values, and customs that we hold dear.
Some of our heritage comes to us from the principles of Western civilization – developed over thousands of years. For all its flaws and warts, Western civilization has created for us the most peaceful and prosperous society that’s ever existed in recorded human history.
Granted, we still have a long way to go. But I’ve learned to never let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘good’.
But more than the civilizational aspect, we each have a family heritage that should be passed on.
Some of us may have a deep, robust, and productive family history already. That history helps shape who we are and what we stand for.
For those who don’t have a deep family history, you’re writing your family’s story right now. Document it, mold it… and then pass it on. You have a blank slate to shape the future for generations to come.
Our heritage helps give us an identity and a shared set of values. That impacts the decisions we make and the work we choose to do in this world.
But here’s the thing – we have to be very clear about what our heritage is. Because the institutions of society are working 24/7 to grind everybody down into a uniform, obedient, compliant mass – unaware of their own true brilliance and competence.
Those who leave a mark on this world are people who know what their heritage is and act upon it. And then they strive to pass that heritage on to future generations to do the same.
Of course, those future generations may need to adapt their heritage to fit their own time and circumstances. But the key is that they will have a foundation from which to build upon. The modern idea that each generation should start from scratch is destructive to the advancement of human civilization.
I’ll share my family heritage with you tomorrow. Then we’ll get back to investment talk after that.
In the meantime, I highly recommend the most recent episode of the Remnant Finance podcast. It’s what got me thinking along these lines.
You can find the podcast here: https://remnantfinance.com/podcast
-Joe Withrow