Chairs

Shade tree on a summer day. Strong sun in full blaze. And a small group of chairs in the cool shade. 

What happened in the chairs beneath the cool shade? Were they telling family stories on each other? Were they shelling peas or silking the corn? Were they eating a hamburger or eating watermelon?

They are just chairs in the shade of a large tree.

But as I drove buy that rural house and saw the semi-circle of metal and wooden straight-backed chairs, I could almost hear the sound of cheer.

What did this family possess that so many others can not find? Time spent together. Underneath that tree had been a family that liked being together, working together, or enjoying simple pleasures together. 

They were not strongly tied to the television, smartphone, or computer. They were tied together.

So many families hurt and ache because although they live together, they don't know each other. Husbands loose touch with their wives, and wives don't understand their husbands. Dad does not know why the kids seem to always be 'glued' to a smartphone, and mom is wonders who her daughter is chatting with on the computer. And no one knows who their uncles, aunts, are. What are cousins?

Maybe what this world needs is a power outage. Force people to get outside under the trees, and remember who they are. Tell silly stores on each other. Do a project together. Eat a juicy peaches and laugh at as the juice drips from our chins.

Friends, what have you done to bring your family together this week?