Virtual front porch offers entree to musings

My wife and I have always wanted a big front porch.

Neither of us had such a porch in our childhood homes – small front-door landings, yes, but not porches.

The closest we’ve come to having a front porch in our married life is the 14-foot covered sidewalk leading to our current home’s front door.

Last week, I heard a delightful feature on porches during National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” It told of a mid-1800s landscape designer, Andrew Jackson Downing, who helped popularize front porches in America.

His biographer said that Downing believed a front porch functions as “a transitional space between the private world of the family and the public realm of the street.”

In the cultural chaos where our privacy seems to be intruded on by so many different things and people, a “transitional space” is very welcome. Whether that space is real or virtual, we crave a space where we can think and feel and relate to the world in our own ways, on our own terms.

So today, I want to invite you up onto my virtual porch for a time of reflection. And maybe a bit of relaxation.

Pull up that rocking chair – the motion can be so soothing – and let’s chat about a few diverse things on my mind and heart. Then let’s visit about what’s on your mind and heart.

Burdens we bear and share: I received a significant number of e-mails, letters and a few phone calls about my last column. In it, I wondered whether the Bible had a verse where it affirmed that “God will give us no more than we can bear.”

I want to thank so many who reminded me that 1 Corinthians 10:13 speaks quite clearly about that. I’m also thankful that everyone seemed to want to point me in the right direction rather than merely “point out the errors of my ways.”

Gentle affirmation is always a more smoothing tone.

Yet having said that, I need to report that I’m still searching.

You who responded are right about that verse speaking of God providing strength for the tests we might face. But the context of Paul’s words to the Corinthian Church has to do with moral temptations, not the emotional stress caused by physical illness or death.

My story had to do with a friend who lost his father in a sudden accident. So I was looking for a passage that spoke more directly to that. I’m still looking.

I may be splitting biblical or theological hairs here, my friends. Some of you will think so, for you speak clearly of your own emotional struggles that were eased by Paul’s words.

I’m grateful you found comfort in their truth. I may not find any other better affirmation myself, but I’ll give it one more try. Thank you.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: With apologies to Simon and Garfunkel, “Where have you gone, Aretha Franklin?”

Everywhere I turn – everywhere – I find people disrespecting each other.

I see children “diss” their parents (and vice versa, for sure). Bosses put down employees (and vice versa).

Spouses dismiss each other. Political leaders, local to national, disrespect each other and their constituents.

“Respect” has to do with “looking back.” Respect means to look again at who you are and at whom you are talking to or about. I feel so strongly that when we disrespect another person, we also disrespect ourselves.

But this is not merely a call for greater education in “self-esteem.” That’s too often a superficial effort.

Self-respect involves looking deep within ourselves with unrelenting honesty about who we aren’t, but also about who we are. I suspect that many people who believe in little beyond their capabilities may have trouble affirming the awesome potential present in each person.

I believe every person is both created and sustained by a Creator who is also compassionate and forgiving. So I may have more reason to look for something to respect in people who show little potential.

To be honest, I have to look real hard to find that potential in some people. But I keep looking.

Well, that’s enough “rocking and reflecting” for today. My virtual porch is open pretty much 24/7 – at least by e-mail – if you want to step up and visit awhile.

When we meet like this, the porch’s transitional space becomes a welcome space indeed.