Front porches have traditionally been the social center of the southern home. Well, porches and kitchens. But, back before air conditioning, I understand, the porch is where you'd go to visit and hopefully catch a breeze for a little relief from the heat. Neighbors would stop by and talk and rock for a spell. That certainly seemed to be how it was in everyone's favorite TV town, Mayberry. Andy, Opie, and Aunt Bea would sit out there after dinner and, invariably, someone would stop by for a visit.
I have my own memories of a front porch. My maternal grandparents had a big one. They had porches on the front and back, actually. But, the front porch was where all the action was. There were two swings that faced each other. One on each end. In between, there were rocking chairs. After a meal, we'd all congregate out there. The cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings. If it was gardening season, we'd all have a dishpan full of peas in our laps and a big sheet stretched out in the middle for everyone to throw their hulls on as they shelled them. We'd spend hours out there just reading the paper, swinging, and visiting. Nowhere else to be. No phones to check. Occasionally, someone would get up to go in for a cold drink and they'd usually get a couple of requests to bring back a glass of tea, a cup of coffee, or a piece of pound cake since they were headed that way.
We could count on the bobwhites and doves to provide background music for our conversations. Sometimes, Granddaddy's cows and chickens would chime in. Cars would pass and my grandparents would always wave at each one. Didn't matter if they knew them or not. Often times, a passersby would honk their greeting and, sometimes, they'd pull in the driveway to say hello. I especially liked to go out there at dusk when the katydids were singing. I spent many hours on that slab of concrete with my family. Swinging, rocking babies, laughing, and talking. When I go back in my mind and visit my favorite memories, many of them are right there in that place.
Davis and I moved in our house in 2004. It's hard to believe that when Halloween rolls around, it will be 15 years. Before we built, we searched and searched for the right house plan. There were certain things we wanted and some things we didn't. One thing that was a must have for me was a big front porch. I wanted one that was substantial enough to accommodate two swings facing each other and a couple of rocking chairs in between. Just like the one in my memory. We finally found the right plan and our porch set up is almost identical to my grandparents'. It's the place to which we spill out when the house is full of people. Where we view the family fireworks on the 4th of the July. Sit to watch a storm blowing in. Visit with the neighbors. It's where I'd go if I wanted to get one of our kids alone to talk. Where we greet our guests and wave goodbye.  

It was just Davis and me at home, Labor Day weekend, so we'd decided it was past time to refinish our stained porch swings and front doors. The sun, heat, and moisture really work on the stain and varnish and break them down over time. The elements just slowly melt away the warm finish and leave it dry, cracked, and uninviting. With the way the morning sun bears down on the porch, they should really be refinished once a year and, well, we'd gone beyond that. So, Davis sanded them all down and I stained the front doors and framing, which left the doors and my hands with a beautiful, deep hickory finish. He stained the swings and, of course, when we were done, we wondered why we hadn't done it sooner. The porch looked so much more warm and inviting. Like new life had been breathed back into it. A far more welcoming place for people to come.

Porches aren't the social places they once were. Modern conveniences have brought us all inside and technology has made our contact less direct. We have more options for entertainment. More doors are closed than are open. We're looking down more than we're looking out, these days. We're convinced we no longer need to touch in order to stay in touch. We don't feel like we have to meet up with each other in order to keep up with each other. Sadly, porches are more for curb appeal, these days, than for congregating. We're just too busy and too distracted.

As we've retreated from the front porch and chosen less personal ways to visit, I think we've all noticed a different set of harsh elements bearing down on us. Isolation, negativity, loneliness, and apathy seem to be breaking down our own personal exteriors and making our once smooth edges kind of jagged. We've become more rough and callous toward our fellow man. Negativity is at epidemic levels. I've seen it beat against the town where we live. We've all watched it blow across our country. Seen it heat up between strangers on social media. Witnessed it disintegrate our political process. Watched it break down morale in work environments. It even corrodes places you wouldn't expect like churches and families. And, once it starts, it has a pile on effect.

Negativity is destructive. The further we get from living life face to face, the more uncaring we seem to become and the bolder we become with it. Just like the porches on our houses need attention, the porches on our hearts do, too. I know mine does. That outer finish that we all have that tells others what we're about- we can't expect those to be constantly exposed to negative news and internet tirades and our edges not become roughed up in the process. We can't really believe that our surfaces won't become dry and cracked if left out in those kinds of conditions. Negativity breeds negativity and, eventually, maintenance is required on that part of ourselves that either invites or repels others to be a part of our lives. More importantly, a part of God's family. We can either be His welcome mat or a growling dog out in the yard. I've seen in myself that it's so much easier to jump on the dogpile of negativity than it is to be encouraging and constructive. But, I think that's exactly what we're called to do. The harder things.
  
"Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philippians 4:8  
 
"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Hebrews 10:24-25 
 
"Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them." Ephesians 4:29
 
"So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding." Romans 14:19


Maybe a little more time on the porch would help us all. It sure couldn't hurt.

See y'all next week.

If I survive the hellacious heat of the football game, that is.