Highs, Lows, and the Somewhere In Between
“‘Dear Pastor, Please say in your sermon that Peter Peterson has been a good boy all week. I am Peter Peterson.’ Sincerely, Pete, Age 9” (Dear Pastor, by Bill Adler)
I love kids! They get to the point, say what they mean, and ask questions. They have a limited knowledge, the things they do know all depends on who is active in their lives, and what is allowed/accepted by those in their lives. As infants they come to us as fragile delicacies to care for, to help mold, and to train and build up into children, teens, young adults. So that they may thrive as adults.
The letter to this pastor above is lots of things: hilarious, I am sure from the heart, and probably out of desperation for some relief! We can all identify with this need for relief for just one thing to be somewhat lighter. Just a little less heavy, or load-bearing.
Lately, I have found myself praying, “Jesus, I have no clue what to do. Give me ears to hear. And close my mouth.” Or “Jesus, Take it all. I lay it all at your feet. Please help me leave it there!”
Stick with me here… I’ve been thinking a lot about how much I really love swing sets. They represent to me an escape, an invitation to imagination, an invitation to breathe, a place to let go and forget where you are and what is on your to do list.
There are the swing sets of my childhood: metal and hard plastic swings. Then there are swing sets now: wood and plastic bucket and belt swings that fit to your bottom. 😊
It’s a really good thing that we didn’t know about the coming swing sets when we were burning our skin, but then again would we change it, would we take back the scars that made us tough cookies with our friends? Nah. We embrace these stories. The hard plastic swings gave us plenty of life lessons, like you shouldn’t wear your Umbros while swinging, you will slide right off and face plant. You must wear cotton bottoms, unless you just wanted to see how far the swing could send you.
The newer swing sets with much more comfortable swings, also have plastic slides that don’t leave burns! 😂 Everything is coated in plastic. You can get ones with tree houses, tire swings, picnic tables, bucket swings, belt swings, rock walls, planks, ladders, well just about anything! The only thing about these as an adult, watch your head! They tend to have beams for the safety of children, however those beams really love to knock you out when you least expect it!
Besides swinging, when I was little, I would spend hours making “obstacles” across our swing sets. One of our swing sets, from left to right: slide, A-frame, swing, swinging bar, glider, a frame. Example of obstacles: run up the slide, sit on the a-frame, stand on the swing and swing standing up, grab the swinging bar and spin, grab hold of the glider and swing on it standing up, do a flip around the a frame and land with a triumphant finish, never touching the ground in between.
This was my escape and also pretty much the extent of my outdoor activity, because I could only do so much of the outdoors at a time. I lost myself in the challenge of figuring out new ways to “find my way” from one end to the other.
These eventually became unsafe and were taken down. Fast forward to my twenties and my Christmas wish list: a swing set. It set right off our sunroom, and oh the joy it brought! From family friends, to children I kept, to easter egg hunts at our house- the laughter, the joy, the wonder- priceless! Then I put on my Christmas list for one for our vacation home. Oh the joy of sitting and hearing the laughter and the conversations of children! Now most of the children are grown up or are “too old” in their minds to swing anymore. But swinging never has an age limit. We all gravitate towards a swing every so often.
I have grieved the swing set we left behind because of what it represented. I also have been delighted to know that there are many children playing there.
I believe, especially these last few weeks I have been thinking about these swing sets in particular, because there are life lessons that can be gathered:
- Often when you start out feeling sluggish and just needing to sit in the swing, maybe draw something in the mud under the swing with your foot, you eventually begin to swing back and forth. Then unconsciously you begin to push yourself off the ground. And your brain seems to say, “Why not start pumping a little?” And soon enough you are flying high, with the wind cooling your body, and giggles coming from deep in your soul that you weren’t sure you had in you. Then you see the sky and remember the Artist that painted that masterpiece can of course meet you in your lows and sluggish moments, if only you look up!
- Just as the obstacles that I challenged myself with on my swing set, the obstacles of life have roadblocks and challenges of their own – we must pause and reevaluate, and then begin again.
- When you just need a moment to process, there is the treehouse. A place to sit, cozy enough to feel like a hug, roomy enough to have the space you need to think, feel, and breathe.
- Then when life feels like it’s spinning out of control, there is the tire swing. Why not literally spin until you are loopy and silly? Laughter does seem to heal many ailments.
- The picnic table is a place of communication, relationship, place to talk, place to sit, be together. Whether you need someone to simple sit with you. Or if you need to talk about a high or low, or concern or joy, or just life. Come to the table.
There are so many more lessons that can be applied to life lived around and on a swing set.
Whether it’s a swing set, porch swing, a rocking chair, I hope you have a place where you know you can go and have highs, lows, and all the in between. A place to breathe, escape the chaos of the world, to rest, to weep, to rejoice, to imagine, to simply sit. To become like a child in your Father’s arms.
Life Book of the Week: And then It’s Spring, by Julie Fogliano
