Discovering the true value of Smyth’s ‘information superhighway’

By DR. MARK ROSS/Columnist

Besides the natural beauty of Smyth County, the greatest advantage of living here is the vast amount of available information. Never mind Hwy. 11 or Interstate 81, it is “the information superhighway” that keeps us alive. The information is not always accurate or current, but it is certainly personal. One friend explained it to me this way, “In Smyth County, if you ever find that you do not know what you are doing, just ask your neighbor.” I began to believe this when a family member had a bad fall.
As it turned out my wife’s mother had several broken ribs and a punctured lung. The ambulance arrived at her home and the attendants began to work with her. The smoothest way out of my mother-in-law’s house is through the front door. However, her front door is like most of ours, strictly for looks. Who in the world uses the front door? When the front door bell rings, obviously a stranger is there.
Because the front door is never used, shrubbery has grown over the sidewalk, making it difficult to pass through much less carry a stretcher. The medical personnel quickly realized that though going out the front door might give my mother-in-law an easy ride, but it would also give her a face full of branches. That is when they made a compassionate, but unfortunate decision. The attendants covered her face with a sheet for the few brief seconds that the stretcher passed through the shrubbery.
Never let anyone say that we do not watch out for our neighbors in Smyth County. If we are not watching out for them, at least we are watching them. That is what folks were doing when as they drove by my mother-in-law’s house, they saw the ambulance drivers carrying her sheet covered body outside. The news traveled at lightening speed. Before the ambulance ever arrived at the hospital, the condolences began to pour in for the family.
Some might look at this misunderstanding and conclude that folks around here are nosey and prone to gossip. I am sure there is some of that, but it seems to me that something else is at work here. People around here care about others.
In June, a car in Hartford, Conn., hit 78-year-old Angel Torres. As he lay bleeding in the street, nine other cars drove around him. People on the sidewalks gawked at Torres. No one helped the elderly man. In defense of the residents of Hartford, Conn., I am certain they would say, “We were just minding our own business.”
Sometimes, minding our own business means we are ignoring everyone else’s. Certainly, there are times for that. However, we really are “our brother’s and sister’s keeper.” To live in a community is not simply geographic, it is personal. To live in a community means to be community to each other. In some sense, my business is your business and yours is mine.
I know that does not fit the popular trend of anonymity. These days there are jobs, communities, and even churches that cater to people who want to mind their own business and want everyone else to mind theirs. Some folks refer to that as being progressive. Of all the things that pass Smyth County by, that would be a good one.
I am glad to report that my mother-in-law has recovered from her fall and from the rumors of her departure. Get-well cards have replaced the condolences. In Smyth County, good news may not travel as fast as bad news, but it is a lot more accurate.

Dr. Mark Ross is the pastor of Marion Baptist Church. To learn more about MBC, visit http://www.marionbaptistchurchva.com/