For our God is a consuming fire
Since moving to Quitman I've been most impressed with how friendly everyone that I have met seems to be. From my next door neighbor, Mrs. Lillian Haney, who preaches the Gospel to her neighbors with a sign posted in her yard exclaiming, "For our God is a consuming fire," to the town's youngest physician, Dr. Jack Henry, everyone seems quite neighborly. It is in that spirit of being a good neighbor that The Quitman Villager is produced and published. Why I figure I'm even helping Mrs. Haney get her message out to the world, as for sure more people will see her sign now that it is posted on the Internet than will by driving in front of her house.
For our God is a consuming fire
The down home friendly nature of people in Quitman is certainly different from how people are in big cities. As an Army brat I've lived in a lot of different places and had the opportunity to travel about our great nation extensively. No where else that I have been are the people any more friendly than in Quitman. Perhaps that is why God or the fates, pick which ever you like, brought me to settle in this joyful little town, where the church bells chime on the hour every hour, and everyone seems to greet you with a smile and warm heart.
Now anyone who knows me well will tell you I'm a pretty relaxed, laid back person. But I found that in recent years life in a large city seems to be getting more stressful. I think part of the reason for this was increased growth, with the older, long-time residence dying or moving away, and a whole new generation taking their place -- transplanted Yankees perhaps, which didn't know any more what Southern hospitality was about than they did the difference between grits and turnip greens.
Yes, if you are one of those people who were born and raised in Quitman, then I hope you are proud of your community and know how fortunate you are to be among friends. Life in the big city is more congested, noisy, polluted and basically a rat race with everyone running about like a hill of fire ants that has been kicked, each so angry and frustrated that they would as soon sting you as say, "Hello."
Well, I may be exaggerating a bit, but on the whole in a big city people are often treated like a number and it takes three or four times as long to get anything done as in a small town like Quitman, where everyone is friendly, polite and goes out of their way to treat their fellow man or woman with dignity and respect.
Of course there are probably a few rotten apples in Quitman's barrel, but I've not met them yet, and that is fine with me. Hopefully they won't spoil the bushel of good apples for the rest of us which brings me to the point at which I was trying to get (took me a while, didn't it) which is, how can I contribute to the community to make Quitman a better place?
As I look around I see that Quitman, like many other small towns, has potential. There is opportunity in Quitman, even if most people do not see it. The opportunity resides in each and every person and their potential, coming able to express their skills, abilities and talents.
Through the creation of The Quitman Villager I have taken a first step to make Quitman a better place. What I am doing is creating an on line media extravaganza, a place where everyone can live, work and prosper.
It may not seem like it now, but The Quitman Villager is like a light in a window, which invites everyone out of the cold, dark night into the warmth. This is what our churches and schools do and it is what our great business institutions do -- provide a moral and learning foundation, a shelter and security for each and every one of us as we go through life.
The Quitman Villager and associated projects which I have designed and created are structured and planned to promote such ideas as "I Love Quitman." I have also created My Home Business Network, to promote small business and home businesses. Thus with the stroke of a pen, so to speak (well actually this involved a great deal of hacking away at the keyboard of my computer day and night), I have created a great opportunity for the people of Quitman.
The opportunity is this: that all individuals and area businesses may grow and prosper through becoming a part of the on line experience and global community via association with The Quitman Villager and those related programs I am promoting -- that through taking the goodwill and friendliness of Quitman on-line and sharing it with everyone, good fortune and blessings will come to all who share in this endeavor.
Yes, I am a dreamer. But look what has already been achieved. The Quitman Villager has been born, created out of bits and bytes from nothingness. I have great hopes for the future that from this small beginning will come the friendliest on-line community in the southeast, perhaps even the nation! I welcome all who want to help to contribute toward that dream by participating and supporting The Quitman Villager.
As Mrs. Haney's sign so boldly reads, "For our God is a consuming fire!" Likewise, The Quitman Villager lights a fire, reaching out with light and warmth, with friendliness, inspiration and goodwill, that all who see our community from afar will feel what I have felt and what we each here know, that Quitman is a town of loving, caring, good hearted people. Together we may thus work toward spreading that goodwill around, and certainly it will bring us all a bright future and good fortune.
TQV 9 Feb. 2005