Your community has deep qualities

Many times those of us in smaller communities look with longing eyes at some of the advantages enjoyed by our brethren living in larger towns.

We see the job opportunities, the wider selection for shopping and just the overall greater commerce and wish we could have a "bigger piece of the pie" ourselves.

There is nothing wrong with such thoughts -- it challenges us all to work together to try to make our communities grow and prosper. For, as we all know, a community not growing essentially is dying.

We had the opportunity at a recent gathering of municipal officials to see the other side of the equation -- namely, that our small communities possess some attributes those living in larger towns covet.

We mainly refer to the actual sense of community -- the neighborliness -- often not present in metropolitan areas.

One official, in assessing today's hectic society, asked those present if they are able to name the five neighbors on each side of them and the members of their households.

That might be a slight stretch in some cases, but we guarantee many of us in the communities we cover in this newspaper can come very close.

Additionally, there was talk of building more sidewalks in residential areas of the cities to encourage people to get out and walk, again to create a sense of community.

Some our sidewalks won't fit the bill, so many just "hit the streets" for a daily walk. The problem often is that we have to curtail our exercise to visit with so many people along the way.

Residents of many of the larger cities and suburbs also are being encouraged to pick certain times of the week for "porch gatherings" in an effort to meet their neighbors.

The point we are making with all this is that in many of our larger communities in Arkansas it is necessary to try to organize what we just so casually take for granted -- day-to-day contact with our friends and neighbors.

Many of our communities are small enough that one can detect a deep and real sense of "family" throughout the town. We are automatically concerned about the well-being of our friends, their children and extended families.

This, of course, really comes forth in times of need. But we feel our friends and neighbors also are concerned about each other in the good times -- in effect, celebrating what is positive in our lives.

So, the next time you look at a larger city and wish you were experiencing some of the advantages, just remember that your town possesses important good traits as well.

What makes it even better is the advantages of small-town living really are the kind money can't buy. They are timeless and deep and touch us in ways that ultimately are more meaningful.

Be thankful for being able to live in a place that has an authentic sense of community, of a nature that doesn't have to be organized or promoted.

--REK