The African Porch

I don’t think there is an equivalent to it anywhere in the world.

A wide, covered porch, kept impeccably clean. The cement does not have to weather Canadian winters, so it finished to a near mirror shine.

And then there is the view. The porch may be on the front of the house, the back of the house or the side of the house, wherever the view is best. The view must contain some greenery, a garden, a lawn, if you are really lucky a water feature of some sort.

Ours has a large lawn, bordered by flower beds. It has large shade trees scattered over the lawn. The best of the trees is clear across the lawn, a Plumeria tree, covered with flowers which send their fragrance all the way to the porch, especially in the evening.

Of course the trees drop leaves on the lawn every day, and the Plumeria drops at least a hundred flowers every day. So each morning, the lawn gets swept, by hand, with a makeshift broom. The sweeping is done is slow strokes, each separated by a slight pause. There is no rush. All will get done in its time.

And of course there are the birds. Some you see, the big crow-like ones with the wide white bibs, and the little sparrow-like ones with French-blue bodies and gray wings. These come in flocks and pick food off the lawn. There are other birds too, not seen, but certainly heard all day. Besides the birds there is the odd rooster crowing, and the odd goat bleating and the leaves rustling in the gentle breeze. Otherwise the silence holds.

Time stands still on the African porch. Devotional reading start early and go on well past an hour. If agenda did not press, they could easily take up the day. Prayer and contemplation come easy on the African porch. God has space to speak here and his voice is healing to the soul.

How does one take the essence of the African porch to the Canadian context? Does time stand still on the African porch because of the cement, the view, the birds, or the man sweeping the lawn? Or is it more about not being rushed, about giving each task plenty of time, and about not having too many tasks to do at once? Is it about having a very singular focus such as we have for these two weeks?

I will miss this porch when I return home. I hope to take the way this porch feels to my soul back home with me.