The church was majestic... what else do you say that about?
It was old too. Really old. Hundreds of years old. Churches are one of the few things that get better with age. Like my uncle Dan’s hair or a fine wine. Maybe a good cheese.
Shel and I had been walking for hours and it was a quiet oasis in a bustling city of conversation. Shoes on the pavement. Cars in the street. People in the cafe’s. They were all adding to the rocus chorus that made up the days topics. Sirens blared as we entered cathedral.
There is something so independent and dependent about being in a building like this. A sense of community, the amount of people and gargantuan effort to bring a vision like this to life... with the independence and loneliness of feeling so small in the presence of awesome engineering. These structures have withstood so much... war and disease to name a few. They’re strong. They’ve seen celebration and sorrow in weddings and funerals, life and death in births and passings. Witness to so much humanness.
I love the reverence that a building like this still commands. The awe, the inspiration. Whether you’re religious or not you can’t help but marvel.
You want to make yourself as small as possible in a place like this. To be a mouse in the hole, a fly on the wall but the space is open. There is no where to hide. It invites you in and says, come and see my history, it’s written in every crevice of my being.
The paddle and muffled footsteps of others bounce off the walls. This is one of the few reminders that you’re not alone in your discovery of this cavernous place.
Gravestones line the walls and floor and you realize that the whole human experience can be summed up in a place like this. In these moments you realize that life is not a circle but a line and here is the proof, written in the stones on which you walk.
What’s his story? What was his life? What was he known for? It’s all summed up here.
I turn a corner and stop at the mosaic’d stained glass window that towers above me. My first thought-- We don’t make artist like we used to. Detailed depictions of obscure bible stories are illuminated by the afternoon sun. The gambit of colors are fixed to the floor and sitting at the bottom of one of the windows is a list of names... written above shields. Family crests. This is when my fascination starts.
The Family Crest
Ever since that day I have wanted to do one of two things... track down our own family crest and apply it to our life or design our own so that it can live on through the generations of our family.
Long story short, I searched and searched but couldn’t find a link to a family crest on my mom or dad’s side. I talked with family, consulted family records, research our name in the regions my family has come from in Europe (England - my moms side and Austria and Switzerland on my dads). Nothing. I even had Shel do her ancestral wizardry that she’s so good at following the lineage of our family back hundreds of years. It was a labor of love with no family crest to show for it. So the only logical thing to do next was design one myself.
Two years later and many many iterations later, I’ve come to a final design. Perhaps in another post I’ll share some of the first designs but for now, just the finished product.
Do you have a family crest? Do you know the lineage of your family? I’d love to hear it!
Let me break it down for you.
TOP RIGHT
A honeycomb surrounded by bees. The inspiration for this third was directly inspired from the flag of the town where my grandmother (on my dad’s side) grew up in CH, called La Chaux-de-Fonds. Its meaning to our family is that of community. Forever, the meaning of bees have stood for community. They work together to serve each other and this is something I want our family to embody. Our family for many years has functioned as a community builder. Connecting people and giving them space to get to know others. This is what this section represents to me.
MIDDLE SASH
Three edelweiss on a field of red. Our roots come from Austria and Switzerland (on my dads side) and I wanted to pay homage to that with the national color of both Switzerland and Austria as well as embody a core value of our family in the national flower of both countries.
Edelweiss grow on the slopes of the alps, at incredibly high altitudes. They’re known for their resilience and ability to grow despite the harsh conditions. There are three flowers to represent me and my brothers. We’re resilient, resolute, and ready to work through challenges despite the conditions. Our family is resilient in the face of adversity. This is what this section represents to me.
LOWER LEFT
An olive Branch on a field of green. There are few layers to this one. First, my parents have always had, for as long as I can remember, olive trees surrounding their house. The symbol of peace has literally surrounded their house and I just think it’s a cool image. More importantly, the Olive branch, biblically, is a sign of God’s love to his people (Noah at that time), when the flood abates. A dove carries one to him on his boat as the water subsides. This to me is a beautiful image and reminder of just how deeply we are loved and cared for by our creator.
I want our family to be a family of peace. We have that legacy already but I want to improve upon it in my lifetime. I want a slowness to my life that incorporates the people and community around me. I want others to see the example of the Heisler’s and think, I need some of that in my life. Not in a boastful way, but in a quiet, humble manner that points people to Jesus. He is the answer we’re like this. I was recently reading through Proverbs and a verse stuck out to me, and I’m paraphrasing, but it said something along the lines of ‘those who practice peace, have joy’. I would like that for me and my family please.
This whole exercise of digging into our family history and coming up with symbols that remind me of what I want our core values of our family to be has been awesome. I would highly recommend taking the time to search it out. You will learn things about your kin and yourself that you didn’t expect.
We are an amalgamation of our past. Our ancestors, our parents, but we are also something new. We get to contribute to our families in purposeful and meaningful ways. You get to decide how you will live your life. Whether it’s living into traditions that have lasted for lifetimes or breaking destructive habits that have plagued your family for generations, you can decide.
Having this clarity around our family is life giving. It gives me direction and inspiration when I lose my way or forget what I’m all about. Also... it’s just badass to have your own family crest on stuff.