InSpiritry

The best part of living in a small town…

Yesterday, I had lunch in Honey Grove, Texas. I was speaking to the Friends of the Library there, a group of 75 people dedicated to supporting the public library in a community of descendants of farming families. Some had lived there all their lives, but many have retired from successful careers to this struggling town of historic buildings and fond memories. My topic was Celebrating Small Town Life – I told stories, read poems and asked audience members to consider the blessings of family, faith, community and connection to the land. By the time I left we were all like old friends.

Honey Grove is not so different from many towns across Texas and America where optimism prevails despite difficulties in sustaining economic growth. While young people are moving away to pursue careers in urban centers or to find more open-minded acceptance; older people are moving in to reconnect with the slower paced, more compassionate communities they remember. While industries are hesitant to invest capital, e-commerce connects entreprenuers to the larger world. While entertainment opportunities are limited, chances to enjoy relationships abound. While there is fewer places to shop, there is less need to buy. While there is less anonymity, every child and adult belongs to everyone else. While values tend toward the conservative, traditions provide a sense of belonging. While new architectural projects are infrequent, natural surroundings offer inspiration. While there are few upscale neighborhoods, in small towns people who are rich and poor, black and white and brown, old and young work and play and live and learn and worship together.

In fact, many of us who live in small towns believe, with the greed, distrust and intolerance in the world of late, we would all do well to reconsider the wisdom of small town life as we work toward our own life goals as well as  the Greater Good!

InSpiritry Question for the Day:  What is something you love about small town life?

When We See Our World as a Community, We Can Be a Blessing!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 10:16 am and is filed under America, Greater Good Thinking, Questions for the Day, Memories, Community, Anne McCrady, Children, Family, Greater Good, InSpiritry, Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.