Walked out on the porch this morning and the day was just lovely. Father Sky had picked up his azure pastel, sketched a dark blue sky, added little thins wisps of white cotton candy clouds, coloring the sun so yellow I could see her golden rays shining down from heaven through the leaves of the old oaks and magnolias, so beautifully filtered through the greenness. The magic in this ordinary day blesses my life.

I’m perched in my porch swing, my church pew, the front porch my church, and in the stillness and solitude of the waking day, I can feel the presence of God in the calm before the storm of modern life begins. I was enjoying a beautiful songbird symphony and watching the butterflies’ magical dances through my yard, then the lawn mowers and weed eaters cranked up and the rhythm of the day shifted. Right on time the hummingbirds’ cease fire ended and they began their battles like fighter jet pilots in a war defending the capital of nectar feeders.

I think of porches as kinds of sanctuaries where life can be passed in solitude, or in happy quiet conversations, where the world can rotate on its axis peacefully. A porch swing teaches us the importance of slowing down, encouraging us to pause our fast-paced lives, to take a deep breath, to appreciate the quiet moments.

Porches evoke feelings of comfort and a sense of home to me. All of God’s creation is in front of me. Things most people take for granted, I can see them all from my porch swing perch. “This scene from my porch swing reminds me of the dawn of creation… And in that moment, I am reminded that you are God and you are good,” Christian Devotional Prayer.

I love the chorus in the song Old Porch Swing —“It’s been there through the sunshine. It’s had its share of rain. Been a witness to some good times and a like amount of pain. If it could tell its story what a violin could sing, that ol’ swing, that ol’ porch swing.” I know my porch swings could spin some yarns and tell some tales about five generations of my family who have sat in the porch swings. Tanya Kancheva writes, “Sometimes, all you need is a good swing and a little bit of sunshine.” My porch swings bring God’s sunshine into my mornings every day.

Stacy Edwards said, “Symbolic of the rhythm of a godly life, the porch swing is slow but consistent.” Jesus was never in a hurry. As he preached his biblical lessons, Jesus’ teaching and traveling were steady and slow like the constant motion of a porch swing. Research says Jesus walked 21,525 miles in his lifetime. God has already marked our path and left his footsteps for us to follow. Why are we all in such a hurry, pushing our swings higher and higher and faster and faster? Going fast takes work and then life passes us by till we drag our feet and stop. Don’t stop too late. Don’t let life pass you by.

Jesus lived a simple life unencumbered with things he didn’t need. He knew what mattered most — memories with family and friends and the faithfulness in a loving God.

God’s peace can come to us wherever we are but when I sit in the porch swing that peace floods over me and calms my soul and I feel the words of Jiddu Krishnamurti “Nothing can disturb the calm peace of my soul.”

“The porch swing is calling with its gentle sway, the best place to be at the end of the day.” — Traditional Verse