The Clothesline

Very few people hang wash on a clothesline any more.
Before dryers, it was the only way to dry clothes.
Some say there is nothing better than sleeping on a bed of fresh hay in an barn loft.
I say there is nothing better than sleeping on sun-dried sheets.

The smell of sheets brought in from the line is amazing.
You can actually smell the fresh air.
You can feel the warmth of the sun.
If your sheets happened to be white, they came in even whiter, bleached by the sun.

There was a bit of a catharsis when you hung clothes on the line.
Houses were closer together in neighborhoods.
Women talked over the fence to each other.
No one felt alone or isolated since you could always knew your neighbor was close by.

I remember our clothesline and the metal poles that held it up.
The poles had an inverted “V” on the top.
The clothesline rested in the base of the “V”.
There were a few poles scattered along the length of the clothesline.

My mother would position the clothesline inside the “V”.
She pushed the pole up so the clothesline would be straight.
The higher the pole, the closer it was to the sun.
The flapping clothes made a melody in the breeze.

Of course, clothespins held the clothes in place.
My mother had a clothespin bag that hung on the line.
She would slide it down the clothesline as she went along.
Clothespins were either one piece or they would open and close with a spring.

Many days there was a mad dash to get clothes off the line before a rainstorm.
If left outside, the clothes would need to be washed again.
Sometimes birds would fly into the clothes, or leave droppings as they flew overhead.
Many circumstances required a rewashing of the clothes.

Despite the process, hanging clothes on the line was the best of both worlds.
Women were rarely sedentary and got their exercise doing routine work around the house.
Being outside was part of the daily routine.
With so much to do, chores were easily assigned to the children.

I was thinking about those sun-kissed sheets as I changed the sheets this morning.
Even with a dryer sheet, nothing compares to the natural smell of sunshine.
It is funny to think that sunshine has a smell; but there truly is a freshness.
A freshness that cannot be duplicated.

Women feel so isolated today.
If they are stay-at-home Moms, they are often away from extended family.
Jobs call people miles away from where they grew up.
With everyone working, and inside most of the time, we rarely meet our neighbors.

What if we brought the clothesline back?
What if we talking over the fence was something we did more often?
What if we felt comfortable enough to borrow that cup of sugar?
What if we reached out, stepped outside, and waved to a neighbor?

Some of the simple things that used to be done, were replaced by the new and improved.
The new and improved came with a cost.
The task became easier, but the social connection was lost.
We live in our isolated worlds without knowing anyone in our community.

That was not the way God intended.
God speaks often in His Word about “one-another-ing”.
God talks about the importance of community.
God speaks about the importance of fellowship.

I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers.
I will make you a community of peoples…(Genesis 48:4)

We are isolated and don’t know our neighbors.
We live on the same street and don’t know everyone’s name.
We rush around our daily lives and don’t have time to stop and talk.
We close our doors, and unless something comes across our doorstep, we stay to ourselves.

We have never been more connected through social media yet never been so alone.
We have numerous friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter who stay safely distant.
Our lives are messy, yet we polish them up nicely and present them to the world…edited.
We live in our social facade and are lonely as a result.

God has allowed advancements in technology.
God has allowed messages to go forth at a click of a button.
It is our fault that we have used this God allowed medium to dictate the course of our lives.
It is our fault that we have become solitary-focused instead of community-minded.

It is our fault!

We are reaping the consequences of our isolation.
The pendulum must swing back in the other direction.

How about taking the amount of time spent on solitary social media and doubling it?
Not doubling the amount of usage time, but doubling the amount of face to face time.
Doubling the amount of time the phones are off, the laptop is closed, Facebook is set aside.
Doubling the amount of time a real person is before us and we are interacting face to face.

Bring back the clothesline?
Perhaps.
Think of creative ways to relate face to face with your neighbor.
Staying connected will become what God intended once again.

Unplug and reach out!
There is a community of people that need you!