Before I address the subject of my column today, I must first go back in time to when I was growing up in New Town.
There was a chair in our den that was the most popular and prominent piece of furniture in the room where we all gathered to watch television.
Actually, it was more like a throne that a monarch sat upon because it was situated at the center most place in the room with a direct view toward the television for whoever sat in it.
Of course, this recliner belonged to the undisputed ruler of the house who would sit upon it when he was home and in the den. If one of us (my brothers and I) just happened to be in the master’s seat when he came into the room, we knew to vacate the throne and allow our father to sit in his favorite chair. There was no reluctance or debating the issue. This was my father’s throne from which he ruled like a king over his subjects.
One of my father’s most stated saying was this: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” True to that saying, the older I get, the more I find myself acting like him. I have a recliner situated in my den that faces my television that gives me direct viewing of it. My son likes to tease me about my elusive right to this recliner. He will often sit down in it before I can beat him to it and put forth a pseudo-argument and resistance that quickly yields to the reality that this recliner and rocker is mine.
Like my father before me, it is my throne. Perhaps the primary reason why my recliner is my favorite chair is because it is the place where I can lounge and relax without having to retreat to my bed. It is there that I can retreat, relax, and let down the hair on my bald head. Secondly, my recliner is the place where I watch my favorite television programs. Though I am not into watching much television, I occasionally like to watch old westerns, the news, educational and informative programs. I especially prefer programs like National Geography, American Heroes Channel, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, TCM, and etc. My recliner is not just my favorite chair where I sit to watch television, but it is also the chair that I sit in while I am writing. I have written quite a few of my manuscripts in long hand while sitting in my recliner with the paper that I am writing on sitting on a little serving table in front of me. All of the articles that I write for my column are composed while I am seated in my favorite chair. The sermons and lessons that I spend much time in preparing to bring to my congregants and others are composed while sitting in my recliner.
Apart from what I have already shared with you about why my recliner (that also serves as a rocker) being my favorite chair is also the fact that it serves as a place of both study and meditation. I have spent countless hours sitting in my recliner reading my Bible, other books, as well as newspapers, magazines, and other informative and enlightening material. To me, my recliner, though it is an inanimate piece of furniture without any breathe or personality, is nevertheless very much alive. It is an accommodating companion and friend that I can depend upon who will always be there when I need it. Though it can not talk or hold a conversation with me, the other congenial benefits that it affords me more than compensate for what it is lacking. I know my favorite chair is aging and experiencing the wear and tear effect and perhaps will have to be replaced one day. Though that day will almost certainly come (except the good Lord see fit to take me home to be with Him before it does), I will continue to relish the time that I spend lounging and sitting in my favorite chair and doing some of my most cherished, important, and productive things and activities. Though my recliner cannot speak in a verbal language, it does however convey and express much love and peace to me through the comfort and pleasure it has always afforded me since it arrived in my home. All of its nonverbal expressions to me have truly been pleasurable, positive, and pulsating within my soul, except one. My congenial, inanimate companion has been pleading with me for a shampooing for some time. In light of all that it has afforded me, certainly I will oblige and fulfill its request, as soon as possi ble. How can I do otherwise and not render some refreshing and reinvigorating to my favorite chair that has serve me so well.