Porch Wisdom

by The Rev. Dr. Peter Bridge, Priest Associate

Hundreds of years ago Blaise Pascal said: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” I am old enough to remember when people enjoyed sitting on their porches, not doing much of anything, just being there, seemingly at peace. A common and calming sight in Africa is to see a person sitting quietly under the shade of a tree. No book or magazine, no electronic device. It would be a great mistake to dismiss this as mindless gazing into space, a waste of time. True wisdom comes out of sitting quietly, embracing the sacred stillness. As much or more wisdom comes from that stillness as we are currently getting out of our frenetic noisy jumping-from-one-thing-to-another way of life. Let God visit you on your porch sometimes. Here are a few of my favorite “porch wisdom” prompts:

“Be still and know that I am God….” Ps 46:10

The greatest pilgrimage is the one that brings us home to ourselves.
(John O’ Donohue, Celtic Spiritual Writer, died January ‘08)

The end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And to know the place for the first time!
(T.S. Eliot 1888-1965, poet and playwright)

I felt in need of a great pilgrimage
So I sat still for three
Days
And God came
To me.

(Kabir 1440-1518, Indian mystic and poet)

Peace and Many Blessings!
Peter