I was sitting on my front porch the other night, listening to the rain. It wasn??™t a hard rain, just a steady soaking rain, with a little thunder now and then for effect. The air was cool without being too cold, and a nice mug of hot tea was just the right thing. The corner streetlight kept everything from being hidden completely without making it too bright out. If ever there was a time for relaxing and reminiscing, this was it! Then it hit me: how often do we take the time to just sit and listen to the rain?

All too often anymore, I catch myself running here, running there until I feel worn down and worn out without seemingly accomplishing anything. The rain just becomes another inconvenience, something to slow me down as I rush around. Between kids, work, and home who has time to stop and ???smell the roses???? I think that??™s one problem not just this country but the whole world has. Everyone is so busy telling others what needs to be done, nobody stops to catch their breath.

A hundred years ago, it was not common for women to work away from home. The men went off to a job, or to take care of the farm while the women stayed at the house and cared for the kids, cleaned, cooked and did everything else. Kids didn??™t have television, let alone video games, to lay around and stare at. They had to help with the work or there??™d be a visit behind the woodshed. In the evenings, the family would gather round the table and share their daily experiences. After dinner was time for the family, either listening to the radio, reading, playing games, or maybe just talking. There was time for listening to the rain falling on the roof or sitting on the porch to catch the scent of blossoms in the air, and more family time.

Even in the cities where there wasn??™t a farm to take care of, more often than not there was still plenty of work to be done. Still, every evening, the family was together to share their day and relax. There may not have been a porch to sit on but there was still plenty of opportunity to listen to the rain, smell the flowers, and catch their breath. There wasn??™t a favorite television show on to stare blankly at, or a video game console. There wasn??™t a computer or internet. There was no doubt a favorite radio program that the family could enjoy together, or the parents could listen to while the kids read. Life wasn??™t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but there was time to stop for a moment and just BE.

Nowadays, both parents work away from home. Kids are left alone too often to care for themselves until someone gets home, and when that happens the parents are too tired to do anything but collapse into a chair. Families don??™t have dinner together, even if they??™re all home at the same time. Meals are now eaten in front of the television so that everyone can stare blankly at a show instead of having to relive their daily experience. Parents don??™t know their kids and kids don??™t know their parents. Everyone is rushing to beat the clock, either late for work, late for an appointment, late getting home, late, late, late. Too many people have to work two or even three jobs now just to try and make ends meet, leaving no time at all for family, friends or life in general. Smelling roses is something you hear about but have never done, if you can even find a rose to smell. Rush here. Rush there. Society says you have to keep busy to avoid doing nothing and then tells you you??™re a bad person because you??™re so busy.

Yes, there are times like the other night when I wonder just how ???advanced??? we are, or if we??™d be better off living like it was done a hundred, two hundred years ago. All these labor-saving, time-saving devices have caused families to drift apart and society to begin crumbling. Cool rainy nights are perfect for thoughts like this. Then I get up, put my mug in the microwave for more tea, and think, ???Nah??¦.???

You are currently subscribed as Subscriber at this email address: email@domain.com

Unsubscription link