The Purpose of My Rocking Chair

There was a rocking chair in our home when I was small. It was black, made from a special kind of wood. It had a lower than usual seat so that small people, or shorter adults, could more easily sit.  It had a high back with 10 or more thin carved rungs streaming down from an ornate design in the headrest. 

I remember a few times it was abused and tragedies resulted. A cut on the head, or at least a bruise, as the rocker went top over tail. We also played with it on its side, and used the rungs for a cage to house an animal for our zoo.

Its real purpose, though, was for resting.

I never was able to rock Jenny or Jimmy as babies, as we had to leave our sliding rocker in West Chicago in 2008.  I have wished for one several times, then forgotten. It wasn't until I saw how happily Jennifer rocked back and forth on a friend's rocker that I remembered. But it remained a wish.

Maybe that's why I got so excited when we received our rocking chair as an early housewarming gift. Now I can rock my children when they need to be comforted. I can even rock myself now and again. You're not supposed to be in a hurry when you rock in a rocking chair. I struggle with that, often operating from a sense of urgency, always feeling the need to be doing something. I need the reminder to slow down, to sit and rest.  I need its physical presence as a example of how to be patient while still being slightly active. You have to move to activate the Rest while rocking.

Active rest is a picture for me of what it means to keep walking and trusting that there is One who knows all and is always active. He is the One who invented Rest, and without Him, there is no peace. I will let our rocking chair call me to wait and be still, even when there is so much to do.