‘Our’ heritage is not always … ours.
Heritage is defined, by various sources as:
something given from one to another
can be tangible or intangible
can be by birthright, handed down or inherited
I love the heritage of my family … imperfect, but mine. I love the heritage I share as a Canadian citizen … imperfect, but mine. I love the heritage of my Christian faith … imperfect, but mine.
My kids go to a school, one I work at, that speaks of ‘our’ heritage, but it is not mine or ours.
Our family goes to a church, one hubby works at, that speaks of ‘our’ heritage, but it is not mine or ours.
And I wonder, how long will it be before ‘their’ heritage is mine? I was born into my family, so it is easy to accept the heritage it offers. I was born in Canada, and love my Canadian heritage. I was born a child of God, and have been grasping at my heavenly father’s hand for most of my life, so my Christian heritage is precious to me.
But, how long does it take before an individual can sincerely take on the heritage of others as their own? There are times when references to ‘our’ heritage (when I do not feel part of the ‘our’) result in an emotional experience akin to finger nails on a chalk board for me. This does not mean that I have no appreciation for ‘their’ heritage, but I have not yet adopted it as mine, and the inclusive speak of ‘our’ feels foreign to me.
I do believe that, eventually, it will happen, that I will grab on and even use the term ‘our’. I do wonder though, will those who share that heritage by birthright resent me, an outsider, saying ‘our’?
itsawonderfilledlife 
Sometimes heritage changes from ‘theirs’ to ‘mine’ or ‘ours’ when we begin to listen to the story behind it and start to understand the ensuing struggle that created the privilege of an adopted heritage. The deeper we delve into that story, the more we begin to identify with the individuals and the human conflict that more likely occurred to make up our heritage. It is in finding the answers to the five W’s (who, what, when, where and why) that we begin to understand the community of heritage. We are social beings created to interact, feed off each other and grow by our interaction. If we never do this, we will never feel comfortable enough to be able to claim a heritage as ours and the word “heritage” will only give us the feeling of finger nails on a chalk board, devoid of appreciation.