The nation’s people and media are talking on and on about the horrible shooting in the Aurora, Colo. movie theater incident.  Subjects range from ‘gun control’, to ‘better security in public places’, and to actually ‘seeing this as a good reason for more average citizens to be armed in order for immediate retaliation’.

There is perhaps another way to look at this.  I’d like to suggest something which I believe is in almost desperate need of revival, and that is “True Community”.

What is “True Community”, and have we lost it?  True community, to me, is where people living within a community are so aligned in the sense of togetherness and support, so involved with a full family life, so supportive of schools, teachers, community services, community politics, and naturally reaching out with compassion and love for one another that a disturbed soul, such as James Eagen Holmes, 24, would be identified and receive help well before he walks into a theater and begins spraying bullets around with an automatic weapon.  I think we have lost this community spirit.

We are a society of instant gratification.  We are a society of instant communication.  We are a people who often make up our minds through sound-bite reporting, half-truths, and a whole array of media techniques designed to take the place of good and proper study and personal introspection.  And we are a people seemingly held in the clutches of greed and fear at all levels of society.

And another disturbing trend:  I have been hearing of more and more churches losing attendance; of churches unable to financially support their ministers.  Church, to me, has always represented a place where we are spiritually nourished, renewed in mind, body and soul, and a place where we receive valuable tools in helping us in solving problems and situations in our daily lives.  Are people getting what they need and are crying out for?

“True Community”, to me, represents a return to values of integrity, compassion, love, honesty, spiritual strength, meaningful dialogue, working in harmony with the environment, and together building a community which truly answers people’s needs and expectations.  It seems to me it is essential to our continued existence.

Bob McClellan,

Polson