I’ve done my fair share of porch sitting. In fact, I like to think myself a bit of an expert. And reading? I love me a good book. Now, if you combine these two passions, you just might get my attention. That’s what Cheryl Smith did this week when she posted about her recent contemplation of L.L. Barkat’s God in the Yard.
I don’t fancy myself an outdoorsy sort of person, so the idea of traipsing into my yard every day for a year, like the author, seems a bit foreign to me. Shoot! Spending an hour in the yard every day for a week would be a stretch. It is summer, after all, and this week temperatures crawled into the low hundreds.
We do, however, have a nice, newly screened in porch with a ceiling fan on the back of our house. Surely it would be the perfect summer substitute, and no bugs!
So off I traipsed, through the french doors off the kitchen and stepped onto my porch, turned to the right and flipped the switch for the ceiling fan without missing a beat. I journeyed the necessary 8 or more feet to the cushioned sofa, looking to the left and noticed my next-door neighbor in his side yard near Peter’s vegetable garden.
Not wanting to be spotted, nor disturbed, I quickly took my place, prostrate on the sofa. Readjusting the pillows, I made myself cozy for the pursuit of contemplation. I suppose like Barkat, my approach was a bit ambiguous. And I hoped it wasn’t an insult to look for Jesus in the trees…
Okay, so maybe what Cheryl was doing was more like porch reclining than sitting, but I think it still counts. To read more about what cloud watching taught her about spiritual discipline, head on over to Cheryl’s blog, Culture Smith, and finish the article.
It’s good porch sitting fodder.
Photo by Cheryl Smith, used with permission. Post by Laura Boggess.
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh dear. I am really not good at sitting. I’m more Martha than Mary. More Peter than John. I’m glad to see you highlighting God in the Yard, though. It’s a cool book.
While I understand, Marcus, “Not good at sitting” sounds as odd as not good at breathing.
At least we agree that God in the Yard is a cool book.
Indeed, that it is!
Now that you mention it, I have asthma too.
Marcus, you make me laugh.
Laura, I’m pleasantly surprised to know one can become an expert in porch sitting. Maybe that’s my next worthy pursuit… “God in the Yard” (or on the porch) in hand.
I think my next pursuit will be to try the “porch reclining” that you seem to have perfected, Cheryl! LOL.
Perhaps we’ll have a competition at Laity Lodge this fall?
You’re on!
I love where this is going — heading over to Cheryl’s place for the rest! And me…not good at sitting…at all. But I have taken to an evening respite some nights on the back patio. Twenty minutes or so. I struggle not to bring a book or magazine with me, so used to always having to be “occupied” or busy. Sitting still has amazing benefits — like glimpsing the downy woodpecker hopping along the knobby trunk of a crab apple tree. Probably wouldn’t have caught that had I had my nose buried in “In Style.”
All kidding aside, sitting is hard to do. Life is crazy busy. But I think that ’s why it’s so important to slow down this way. A downy woodpecker? Now that’s worth sitting for, Michelle.
I agree Laura. Sitting with purpose is the hardest of all. And perhaps the most rewarding.
Michelle,
So glad you stopped by the blog. Great to connect with you here.
I’m heading over there now. But I’m still trying to picture myself in the yard at 10 degrees while snow needles my cheeks. And that cushioned sofa? I think I’d be asleep in less than 5 minutes.
I suspect L. L. is made of pretty tough stock, far more so than me.
Funny, you say, “asleep in less than 5 minutes,” like that’s a bad thing…
Well, I have to tell you a secret. I am not very tough at all. Nor am I particularly outdoorsy. So it was nothing short of ridiculous for me to agree to do what I did. Beginning on a sub-zero day had me wondering what I had gotten myself into.
But sometimes the craziest things lead us to amazement. Day after cumulative day, that’s what happened to me.
I loved your post. It made me laugh and then it caught me with its profound conclusion.
God is like that, isn’t He? Calling us to do things we never thought possible. Showing us glimpses of Himself along the way.
And very glad you liked it. Laughing and thinking are good.
Enjoyed both posts and am looking forward to my hunk o’ yard in the mailbox this week.
Blessings.
Fun phrase, “hunk o’yard.”
I love sitting on the porch. I love reading on the porch. I love eating and drinking on the porch. I’m a porch girl. Looking forward to reading God in the Yard on the porch.
I’m a porch girl too Susan, though I only recently discovered this. Prior to our porch screening this Spring, our deck was just too plain hot and buggy this time of year.
I loved the spiritual insights from the movement of clouds – beautiful! Though of course, if it were me, I probably would have fallen asleep right away and missed the clouds altogether. Ha!
Marlo, I have a dear friend who speaks of taking a nap with God. Until she uttered those words, I thought dozing while reading/reflecting/praying was a sign of unfaithfulness. And perhaps it is, sometimes like the disciples in the garden.
But maybe, at other times, it’s like “resting in the Lord.” Sounds good, anyway.
I’m literally reading this on my front porch swing!
Now swings are an altogether different story. Motion sickness is not my friend.
And this is why I need more than just some concrete and steps! On my way over to Culture Smith to read the rest!
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts Amy.
Last year my friends got me a wonderful outdoor reclining chair that I love to sit in and check out the stars among the giant pines. I love the cool air, the quiet and the smallness I feel. It stirs something deep in my soul and offers an escape that I wish could last forever. During the day, however it seems like all I see is the work that needs to be done or the overbearing heat of my yard. We have magic in our yard, rabbits, chipmunks, caterpillers, even bears coyotes and deer. Not the same as the mysteries of the stars.
In Virginia, the coolness of the pre-dawn air is the most inviting. It seems a bit scarier to be out in the blackness of night, even though we’re high off the ground. And if the light is on at night, we’re spared no privacy from neighbors. Still, it’s better than no porch at all. I’m not complaining.
Does it count that I just saw a groundhog in the backyard? He scurried away as soon as he spotted me. That hardly seems magical at all.
Because of this post, I sat on my porch last night along with no book, no music — nothing. Just sitting.
And it was invigorating.
Who would have ever though of using sitting and invigorating in the same thought?