Never Finer

“This town of churches and dreams; this town I thought I would lose myself in, with its backward ways and winding roads leading to nowhere; but, I found myself instead." ~Kellie Elmore

A tiny white church sitting at the top of a hill overflows with people.  Men standing outside in cowboy hats and boots.  Women sitting in the pews with their hair poofed and their pearls on.  Flower arrangements fill the window sills.  Old, familiar songs drift out the open door.  How Great Thou Art.  Old Rugged Cross.  Amazing Grace.

Most Sundays, the people inside go to various churches.  But today, no one notices the differences.  Methodist or Catholic, Baptist or Mormon, Epsicopalian or Assemblies of God.  Today, everyone sits together.  They hug each other as they walk in and say the Our Father in unison.  Differences matter not.  They mourn together, they pray together, and they remember together.

Photo via

And then at the quiet, country cemetery, everyone gathers around a grave.  The sun beats down and the ranchers talk about rain, or the last basketball season, or the last time that they all stood in the same cemetery around a different grave.  Because this same community has been here before and will be here again.  Together.

Once the prayers have been prayed and Taps has been played, they load up into their pickup trucks and drive to the old school building for lunch.  Because if there is one thing that small town ladies do right, its a funeral meal.  A spread big enough to feed an army sits out on tables that span the width of the basketball court. And here, people recognize the different dishes based on the cooks.  "Oh, that's Mary's chocolate cake" or "Those look like Pam's enchilladas."  And before the meal, the men remove their hats, the kids put down the basketball, and the priest blesses the food.  Because that's how you start a meal.

Small towns are not for everyone.  There are no fancy restaurants.  You have to drive two hours to the nearest Wal-Mart.  A lot of people there have never flown on an airplane or seen the ocean or owned a passport. 

But they know the meaning of neighbors, and of community, and of love.  And they show it when times get hard.  And if you ask me, small towns are never finer than in these moments.

*Linking up with Rural Thursday.