But there is a second story in this book. It is the story of a rural community, a community dedicated to growing something more important than wheat or cattle. What the community of Smith Center produces each year is a group of students who have been instilled with the basic values of hard work, love, patience and humility. When you read this book, you may ask yourself questions about our own community:

How does our community build the character of its young people?

What values are our teachers, coaches, parents and other community leaders instilling in our children?

Do our children internalize these values and carry them with them into adult life?

Some issues that many communities face are not addressed in “Our Boys.” The problems of gangs and bullying, the challenges of coping with mental or physical handicaps, the limitations of severe poverty, homelessness and domestic violence; these topics are outside the scope of the book. Yet many communities struggle to find solutions for these problems in ways that unite people in an effort to improve the quality of life for all. How does our community address these problems? Are the solutions beneficial to all concerned?  Are they the best that we can envision and afford?

What makes a good community? For that matter, what is a community, anyway? Is it defined by geography?

Certainly we would all agree that the town where you live, or even your neighborhood, is your community. But community can refer to something both bigger and smaller. It can be a group sharing a common culture, a group of people in a workplace, a group united by faith (such as a church’s congregation), or united by purpose (such as a service organization). In most cases, the idea of community is based on shared values, resources and sense of identity.

How do we identify our community? What resources, needs and solutions do we share? Is it important to agree on everything, on most things, on anything? How does our community react to diversity of opinion? Do we welcome outsiders into our community or do we shun them? Do we believe that even big city reporters like Joe Drape, author of “Our Boys,” have something to contribute to our community?

These are all questions worth thinking about, and worth talking about as a community. If you have ideas about how we can do that — as a community — please let me, or a member of the Concordia Year of Peace Committee, know.

I hope that we allow all who are part of our community an opportunity to make a difference.  We will all benefit.

— Denise de Rochefort-Reynolds is the director of the Frank Carlson Library.  She and her husband Karl have lived in Concordia for more than 25 years.

Everyone has to be involved in a community. If you want a say in what happens in your community, go to a town meeting and vote in city elections. Do your part in the community; represent your town or city. Make it look like a nice place to live. When you want to buy a car, buy it from your car dealership, not from the next town over. Let your town reach its full potential.

Another important part of being involved in the community is getting to know the other residents of the town or city. You cannot feel like you belong if you do not know the people living around you. Listen to their opinions as well because what they have to say is important. Whatever decisions your community makes will affect you because everyone should work together to make their community a better place to live.

Making the community better involves doing your part. If everyone is not on the same page about helping make the town a better place then it will not work smoothly.

— Kayla Dvorak is an eighth grader at Concordia Junior High School. She is the daughter of Heath Dvorak and Sharon Klima.

But what do I mean by that? “Social capital” refers to the bonds that tie a community together — the bonds that make communities safer, schools better and people healthier. When people are invested in their communities, they are more likely to vote, volunteer and care for one another.

In studies that date back some 20 years, researchers have found that communities with higher social capital have higher educational achievement, better performing governments, faster economic growth and less crime and violence.  People living in these communities are happier, healthier and have a long life expectancy.  In these communities, it is easier to mobilize people to tackle problems and easier to undertake things that benefits everyone. And people in those communities have a sense that they are part of something important and growing.

It becomes the ultimate self-reinforcing spiral:  The strong community invests to strengthen the social capital of the community — and in doing so attracts financial capital, friends and trust that further benefits the community.  Social capital has become a core measure for the health of the community.

The bonds of social capital are stronger in smaller settings — smaller schools, smaller towns, smaller countries, and so on.  Listening and trusting are easier in smaller settings.  One-on-one, face-to-face communication is more efficient at building relationships and creating empathy and understanding than remote impersonal communication.

While bigger may be better for critical mass, power and diversity, smaller is better for forging and sustaining connections.

There are actually two types of social capital.

“Bonding” social capital are the ties that link individuals or groups with much in common;  “bridging” social capital are the ties that link individuals or groups across a greater social distance.  Both kinds of connections are valuable to us as individuals, but bridging is especially important for building a strong community. Think of the way we as Americans came together in the aftermath of Sept. 11; that horrific day made us look past differences and come together as a nation.

But it doesn’t take an event of that magnitude to build social capital bonds; the idea is neither all-or-nothing nor once-and-for-all.  It is incremental and cumulative, and the opportunities are all around us: Community blood drives, the library, sporting events, local news in the Blade or on KNCK and ncktoday.com, band concerts, local coffee groups, fund drives for specific community needs, volunteering… They are all part of our social capital and important to community.

When you get involved in activities anywhere in the community, you are making an investment in social capital and you’re building a better Concordia. As we begin the 2012 Year of Peace, join us with your strengths and interests, and share and give yourself in service to your neighbors. We’ll all be better for it.

— Robert Steimel is a retired CPA and partner with Kennedy and Coe, LLC who serves as the volunteer executive director of the Community Foundation for Cloud County.  He and his wife Lorene live in Concordia.

It was Manna House of Prayer, 1995, the first year of the Kid’s Holiday Store. He was about 15 – in trouble with the law, at school and at home. His dad was so angry – and so disappointed – in him that they rarely spoke.

Now here was the son, deep in his own pain at the strained relationship and infatuated with the wooden chess set complete with a smooth, wooden case to match. He spoke with one of the volunteers. He did not say much but seemed to need encouragement for what he was about to do.  “Do you really think it would make a dad happy?” he asked more than once. He would leave and come back several times, always hoping that it would still be there. Sensing that this was a significant gift and that the young man would be back, the volunteers set the chess set aside for his return. He had a special way with special wrapping paper he wanted it wrapped. He took his time and took great care in wrapping it with one of the volunteers. As he left, he was a mixture of pride coupled with the fragility that comes when giving a gift as a peace offering that says, “Dad, I really need you.”

That year there were many tender stories from the Holiday Store. But I was in awe of that proverbial thin strand that so powerfully holds us all together: There was the person who donated the chess set, the sisters at Manna House who hosted the store in those early years, the volunteers who delighted in each shopper and those who listened to a young man’s heart-felt plea that his gift be wrapped “just so.”

But what if someone had broken that one strand and not done his or her part? How would that have changed the story? How would that have affected our community?

The ending to this story is that the father was deeply moved by his son’s gift. Through tears and reconciliation, the son promised to do better and the father committed to being more attentive. They both kept their promises. The father taught the son to play chess and that was the entryway into healing their relationship.

I’ve thought of that father and son often recently, as we come to the end of the second Year of Peace. Once again there has been a resounding call for us to continue for yet another year.

People tell us that the Year of Peace helps create a sense of community, of belonging, of knowing that we are all connected by that one thin strand. So, the focus for the coming year will be building a community, bringing people together. Bob Steimel will talk more about that in a Year of Peace column next month.

The story of the young man from the Holiday Store is a simple one. None of the people who worked with him that day could have known the impact they would have — not only on the young man and his family but on our whole community. He kept out of trouble and was no longer in the court system; he concentrated on getting the most he could from his studies; and a family at peace within the home ripples out into the larger community. I was privileged to get to know the family to see firsthand how simple kindnesses – and a son’s courage — changed their lives.

My hope and prayer is that next year each one of us experiences the power of a community bringing people together by doing our own part to keep the strand from breaking. As this story shows, doing our part can be as simple as being attentive and responsive to the person we encounter. In doing so, may we see firsthand its power to change us all.

— Sister Jean Rosemarynoski is a member of the Leadership Council of the Sisters of St. Joseph and head of the Concordia Year of Peace Committee. If you have ideas or suggestions for the committee or want to get involved with the Year of Peace, contact Sister Jean at 243-2149 or sisterjean@csjkansas.org, or any of the other committee members.

“The whole being of any Christian is faith and love. Faith brings the person to God, love brings the person to people.”

— Martin Luther

But wait. Is this what the Christmas season should really mean to us? Yes, these tasks are important but maybe we should pause and think about the real meaning of Christmas. The angels brought the message “Peace on earth to people of goodwill.”  If we wish to have goodwill toward one another, we cannot hold grudges or resentments. Matthew 6:12 tells us “forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong us.”

Forgiveness can be rather difficult. It is a process. We need to begin by forgiving ourselves as well as others. By forgiving we do not forget, but we remember differently. We remember in a manner that no longer harbors either resentment or bitterness and which no longer chains us to those who have done evil to us. Forgiveness is courageous and demands strength. Something in our nature wants to keep us holding on to our injury. The heaviest thing we can carry is a grudge. The hurt we refuse to forgive continues to harm us. Yet forgiving those who have harmed us is a freeing experience. Resentment drains our energy.  Forgiveness relieves us of this destructive baggage. When we let go we are freed.

Forgiveness is not for the forgiven but for the sake of the forgiver. We can have peace and harmony when we are able to adapt an attitude of forgiveness. We can dream of a world of peace and goodwill, but dreams are not enough.  Mahandas K. Gandhi said “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Have a truly peaceful Christmas.

— Lorene Steimel is a retired banker who volunteers as secretary of the Community Foundation for Cloud County and as a member of the Concordia Year of Peace Committee. She and her husband Bob live in Concordia.

That means wars need to be stopped and peace needs to spread across the whole world. But there will never be peace in the world until everyone has peace at home. We need to spread peace in our homes and families.

One way for peace to be brought into homes is for family members and friends to communicate their wants and needs better and to resolve issues in a civil manner. When people are more confident and happy with each other, there is a greater chance that they will help others to become as confident and happy as themselves. When our families are unified, they are more willing to work to make the nation a more peaceful place one step at a time. There is always something you can be doing to help strive for peace anywhere and everywhere.

Families need to spend more time together, and I do not mean time spent shopping.  I mean families spending time together that can influence everyone’s life in a positive way.  There are many ways families can spend quality time together. 

Families become happier with each other by going on family vacations, something simple, not necessarily to Hawaii, the Bahamas, Jamaica or anything like that. This should be a family vacation from all the stress at home. Leave all technology at home and do something together where everyone has to interact with one another, just try to make it positive interaction. Make it fun and interesting so your family is more willing to participate in the activity. Many families should consider doing this, even mine.

The dream of peace is different for every person. Everyone’s dream may be slightly different or drastically different; there really is not a right answer. I think everybody should have a plan of how to improve peace in their homes and families and maybe even in the world.

My dream of peace can be achieved with a little work and some willingness. What is your dream of peace and how can you achieve it?

— Samantha Hake is an eighth grader at Concordia Junior High School. She is the daughter of Cayleen and Terrance Britt.             

Peace, respect and justice are all connected. With more peace throughout the world, people would be more respectful of each other. That respect then leads to more justice for everyone.

One great approach to promoting global citizenship is the foreign exchange program for high school students. Such programs let kids learn about different countries and the way people do different things. They can also break stereotypes and heal bad relationships between people of different countries.

At Concordia High School, we have a foreign exchange student – and football player — from Europe. Just by getting to know him, I have already learned more about different cultures and have gained a lifelong friend. I’ve become more of a global citizen.

Everyone needs to start working together more and helping each other out. We aren’t here to fight and start a war with each other.

There will be obstacles in your path of life to cause anger and confusion. How are you going to get around them? The answer to that question is up to you; whether you want to take on that obstacle or not do a thing about it is your decision. If we can get more people who want to get around these obstacles, work together and help others out, then we can all be better global citizens. It is a goal that we all should want to achieve.

A world with no boundaries is what I would like to see; a world where everybody has food, shelter and an opportunity to work; a world where there is peace, respect and justice for all; and a world where we can proudly proclaim our global citizenship.

— Zach Kyle is  a freshman at Concordia High School and a member of Friends of Rachel. He is the son of Penny and Jeremy Arnold.

As you get older you still have to do the right thing and help everyone, neighbor and stranger. Being a good citizen can start by doing something simple like offering to help someone, or getting involved in your community. Then, life in the community can be more pleasant for all the people living there.

It is the same for students in school. Get involved in as many activities as possible so you can help out. Do useful things with your free time.

Respecting the people around you is important. If you don’t, then why should they respect you and do things for you? They probably won’t.  A way to show you are considerate of your surroundings and everyone in them is to obey all the laws. Laws are there for a reason and not following them is a definite sign of disrespect toward your community.

A way to show appreciation for your community and the people who live here is to be reliable. Let your neighbors know they can depend on you. That is what neighbors are for.  Support your community in its times of need.

Being a good citizen really pays off!

— Kayla Dvorak is an eighth-grader at Concordia Junior High School.  She is the daughter of Heath Dvorak and Sharon Klima.