I am not sure what evoked the nostalgia this morning, perhaps that it is July and hot. I got up early and opened all the windows to cool off the house and give the air conditioner a break before it gets warm in the afternoon. When I was a child we left our windows open all night to cool the house down, but that is no longer an option if we hope to stay safe.
This morning I recalled those hot summer nights as a child in Western Pennsylvania. All the neighbors would sit outside on porches waiting for houses to cool a bit, often holding glasses of home-made ginger ale and root beer. I remember mason jars full of fireflies and the old-fashioned water pump in my uncle’s yard. I can still hear the squeals of joy as kids chased each other with sprinkler cans filled from the pump. I remember lemonade and ginger cookies, old men talking, women fanning themselves, rocking chairs and porch swings.
Then they started finding ways to keep houses cool all the time. No longer was it necessary to remain on the porch late into the evening. We traded fellowship with our neighbors for sitting around a television, another new innovation in my childhood. I think we lost more than we gained.
I wonder if heaven will have porch swings and rocking chairs, lemonade and ginger cookies. I know the fellowship will be sweet as we share with each other the joys of simply knowing Jesus.
John 14:2-3: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” [NIV]
