The Long Shadow

While I lived in numerous places as I was racing through childhood and adolescence, it was the small town where I graduated from high school which seems most like home.  With a graduating class of 36, it was not just a small town, but a very small town.  It is sad to see the decline of so many small towns across the countryside, the loss of community schools and churches, and the way so many live without any sense of connecting roots.      

One of the things some bemoan about small towns is the way everybody knows everybody's business.  I remember one school day when I managed to get into enough trouble that the Principal got involved only to get home and discover that my Mother already knew about it.  And, this was long before social media!  Looking back it is not such a bad thing for everybody to know everybody's business.  What might seem like an intrusion into privacy and an opportunity for gossip might also be seen as an expression of concern for others.     

Of course, deep in my memory is also the way the church was such a central part of our lives.  It stood unlocked on the street corner throughout the week, gathered us all on Sunday, and served as a centering force for so many of us.  It might have been a small church in a small town, but it cast a long shadow, one which continues to touch my life even to this day.