May 08, 2013
| Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. –Exodus 20:12 NIV The word “rocking chair” didn’t appear in the dictionary until 1787. But the idea of rocking originated in the 15th century when Mothers rocked their babies in wooden cradles. Rocking chairs adorn many porches today as a decoration, while others are weathered and worn from use. Many different kinds of rockers are available now. It is the type of furniture that seems to please everyone from babies on up. Could it be that the very best place to have a rocking chair would be on an oceanfront porch, rocking to the rhythm of the waves? It wouldn’t seem to matter if it were a boston rocker, a shaker, bentwood, wicker or just handmade with grapevines. The feeling would be the same. Mothers have instinctively known that rocking a baby or small child in a rocking chair calms fears and lessens anxiety with its slow rocking motion. Is it the rocking or being cradled in a mother’s arms that seem to make everything right again? Probably a little of both I imagine. The rocking chair displays the marks of raising children. The colicky nights, bad dreams and lazy afternoons are part of its history. That is what makes it irreplaceable, not for it’s beauty but for its memories. On this Mother’s Day, it is fitting to take a moment to remember the person that rocked us in our infancy and thank God for the blessing and gift of having someone that cared. |
Betsy, this is so beautiful. I remember the rocking chair in my old pink bedroom where my Mom used to rock me. It was a wooden chair with a small chip in it and had floral cushions tied to the back and the seat. I can still imagine it even though I am 35 and my Mom is 1,200 miles away. Thank you for this visual and for calling to my mind a special person, my mommy, who I am still very blessed to have in my life here on Earth.
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