For many of us, camp meeting wouldn’t be camp meeting without time spent just a-swingin’ on the porch in front (or in back) of our tents. This is where we gather to watch the ‘promenade of the passway’ in the evenings, or come together to eat homemade ice cream or ’nanner pudding and drink gallons of sweet tea while we catch up with family, friends and neighbors.
Sometimes, especially during a drowsy afternoon, it’s a place to grab a nap or read a book. Maybe to rock a baby to sleep. It’s a place to go indoors from when one of those summer showers breaks, and a place to go outdoors to, when the shower is over. It’s a place to plunk a pot of geraniums, or hang colored lights.
It’s a place where confidences are shared and jokes are told. Where the story of the family is relayed and repeated, until we all know about how Grandma and Grandpa met, and the time Uncle Mack got chased by a bear. It’s where sweethearts court, and where old issues sometimes get resolved. It’s where little kids play ball and bigger kids play video games and those-who-are-no-longer kids remember when they were.
And sometimes, late at night, when the stars are out and the fireflies have turned off their lights for the night, and the crickets have run out of songs, it’s a place to just sit and think, and dream, and remember, and perhaps have a quiet talk with Someone who’s always there.