Nothing else needs to be said, a letter about you

Friends,

Recently, this letter arrived unsolicited and forwarded with a note, you may want to share it with the community.  The letter, written by Nancy and Bill Shepperd, Tennessee, opens with a short paragraph from a magazine article, and continues with words and feelings about Salado.  Nothing else needs to be said:

This is from Ravi Zacharias magazine 'Just Thinking'

. . . Beyond the search for individual meaning is a search for community, for a community that shares, bears, and sustains a relationship of trust and greater purpose. Only in the gospel message can that truly be found with togetherness that culminates in worship. That is true coherence that blends the particular realities with the bond of the sacred. In that relationship, both individuality and community are affirmed. The worship of the living God is what ultimately binds the various inclinations of the heart and gives them focus. A community of hearts and minds united in spirit and in truth binds the diversity of our culture, the diversity of our education, the diversity of our backgrounds, and brings us together into a corporate expression of worship. . . one of the most powerful witnesses in a discordant culture is a community united in joy and worship. . . 

This, of course, was taken from a larger article entitled 'A Coherent Life' written by Ravi, relating to the church, but I couldn't help thinking all the way through it about Salado. We did not even know we were searching for community till we decided to move to Salado. We sensed the community life that was there during our several visits before deciding to move there. And, after almost ten years, we were never disappointed. Perfect? Not by a long shot, neither were we, but we were accepted and included in the village relationships and in the hearts of the residents and found ourselves focusing on the true nature of what made Salado function - that was its diversity of people and ideas - all working towards the same goal, how to make Salado better. True, many had a different view and/or way to get there, but all in all there was a corporate desire for the good of the community. We are already feeling the lack of the larger family that Salado came to be for us even while totally enjoying the immediate family life here in Tennessee. 

I'm hoping I can make the transition of community life back to a good church, although Mark has tried them all and is still searching after 12 years! What a sad commentary on the current day church. I think I need to lower my expectations and be more accepting of the faults and imperfections I continually find. It would be so nice to find community again and this one is so huge that I think to find it we will have to look to involvement in something more along the lines of a large church, or group that shares our interests.

Anyway, didn't mean to get all serious on you, but I was very moved by this article and its similarities to my feelings about Salado. My faith in God has never diminished without attending church, but I realized moving here that Salado was my church for the people relationships and fulfillment that the church should have been providing. Everyone was who they were without the mask people wear on Sundays. The ebb and flow of relationships were honest whether it was disagreement or consensus, People were who they were and I liked that. And if I didn't like someone, no big deal, life went on.

Guess this is a bit much and I should hit the send button before I rethink this. It has been very spontaneous from a heart that is missing Salado!

May you always know how special you are and how wonderful Salado is.

VR/Skip