Elmore
My family and I moved to the small village of Elmore, Ohio, two years ago. On various roadmaps, Elmore may appear as a small black dot, a small circle with white center, a little plus sign, or as part of an exit marker for the turnpike. Road map makers do that with small villages like Elmore, otherwise they would have a map made up of a bunch of large blots and no room for roads. If there were no room for roads, the road map would look like a huge Rorschach inkblot. If roadmaps looked like Rorschach inkblots, psychiatrists all over the world would be asking their patients if a roadmap looks like their mother and why do they feel that way.
Fortunately, Elmore is not a huge inkblot used by psychologist to charge their patients enormous fees, but a village of about 1,200 residents… actually, 1,205 residents after my family moved here two years ago. We were only here about two weeks and I settled right in, wondering why we hadn’t moved to a small town years ago.
Now, living in a small town comes with a small amount of teasing from “outsiders”. When I tell others about the charm of this small town, they ask me if I know Opie Taylor, Aunt Bee, or Sheriff Andy; if the post office, the general store, and the police station all have the same address; and what I see when I look at a blot on the roadmap (and why do I feel that way?).
I don’t mind the teasing. There is something comfortable about belonging to a small community like Elmore where, as the theme song to Cheers had it so right, “…everyone knows your name.”
Of course, not everyone knows everyone’s name here in Elmore. A few may have to greet you with, “Hey you” or “excuse me”, but there is always a friendly tone and a smile behind it. For those of the 1,205 residents who might be unfamiliar, we fake it and smile anyway.
I was reminded of the value of a small community last week when I dressed to attend a funeral. I stopped in the best coffee shop in the world, “The Red, White, and Brew”, for my morning cup before the services. After getting home and changing into my casual clothes, I took a stroll to the post office (no, it does not have the same address as the general store and the police station) and had a few folks ask me about getting all dressed up in the morning. In Elmore, if everyone knows your name, they know what you are wearing, what you were wearing in the morning, and what you see when you look at a blot on the roadmap (and why you feel that way).
Some folks may not like this type of closeness in a community, but I enjoy it. The closeness and familiarity of Elmore is not like Gladys Kravitz peering out her living room window at Samantha and Darrin in “Bewitched”, nor is it intruding like the hotel receptionist in “White Christmas” listening in on all the telephone calls. Instead, there is a genuine interest given to one another, an encouragement with sincere concern expressed for the well being of those “in town”. By the way, “in town” is not defined by the limits posted on the streets, but more by the relationships connecting the people together.
As those in the community express their concern, my concern for them is reciprocated, and while today’s society may have a skewed or twisted definition for this word, this is what defines a friendship. Whether this friendship is with an elderly Veteran with a contagious smile, a table full of ladies laughing, teasing, and joking with me at “the Brew”, a group of men intent on the study of Scripture and comaradarie, wonderful baristas with my coffee started by the time I hit the door, a caring and interested librarian with her equally compasionate employees, neighbors greeting me with a smile and a wave, or two tender friends sharing an afternoon coffee or tea, the friendships, interests, and concern are a welcome relief in a fast paced world.
I believe Elmore is close to a picture of what Paul was describing to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 12:18-27, “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’… …God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
I believe God has arranged for us our places and where we should be at any given time. This we are given in Acts 17:26, “… and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”
When we consider God determines the times and places where we should live, and He arranges the parts of the body, each with their function and role, we begin to build a picture of unity within a group of people, each serving their own purpose. While some in the world may claim, “I don’t need you, I can do this on my own”, they are actually setting themselves up to be isolated, alone, and miserable. God has arranged the members of the body so there would be “no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” We each have our role, our purpose, and our place, whether it is in a church or a village the size of Elmore. When one person in the church (or in the village) suffers, those around the person grieve with them, and when one person in the church (or in the village) rejoices, we all celebrate together.
Some people are uncomfortable with a place like Elmore, because it is more relational and friendly than 90% of the world. Some people are uncomfortable with a place like church, because it is more relational than even Elmore.
I know this because I used to be very divisive, isolated, alone, and miserable. I would complain about my lot in life, never realizing I was the primary cause. I was uncomfortable being a friend to anyone. I was uncomfortable in church, and would have been uncomfortable in Elmore. However, when I stopped being selfish, taking my eyes and focus off of me-me-me-me-me, I began to see how selfish and alone I was making myself. I started to see life in a different way. There was something I was missing. And, when I set my eyes on Jesus Christ, I learned forgiveness and healing in some of the broken relationships driving me toward isolation.
My encouragement to you today is to look at your relationships with an eye from the outside and determine if you are more isolated and alone than necessary.
Are you divisive like I used to be? Are you miserable and hiding from life by spending time on the Internet and chatting with people you do not know? Email, Instant Messages, telephone texting, and chatrooms are not relationships. These may be hiding places to take up your time so you do not have to address what is uncomfortable: relationships.
Let me encourage you to find out what you are missing by stepping outside of your comfort zone, taking your eyes off yourself, and setting them on others around you. Set your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith, and the only One capable of truly healing your past relationships and opening doors for new ones.
And, not once will He ask you to take a look at a Rorschach roadmap and tell Him what you see or ask you why you feel that way.
Do you know Him? Do you know Him well enough to ask for His help in your relationships?
If you do not know Jesus Christ in this way, send me an email. I would like to help you get to know Him. Do you know someone who might enjoy this blog or one of my eStories or Books? Please share this blog or my website with them. Thanks!
Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
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