I just finished reading "The Quotidian Mysteries" by Kathleen Norris, thanks to the recommendation of a wise friend. Norris spoke many words I needed to hear.
She writes, "Like liturgy, the work of cleaning draws much of its meaning and value from repetition, from the fact that it is never completed, but set aside until the next day. Both liturgy and what is euphemistically termed domestic work also have an intense relation with the present moment, a kind of faith in the present that fosters hope and makes life seem possible in the day-to-day."
I rarely find hope in the never-ending cycles of laundry, dishes, and picking up after my children, do you? But Norris reminds me over and over in her little book that such acts should remind me that it is NOW that God is present. Just like laundry is never ending, so is the grace of my savior. He is as present as the detergent. He invites me to think on Him in such moments, and not zone out or begrudge the action.
Just as I must prepare meals everyday, so must I also find nourishment in the Triune God daily. The Father created our work. The Son experienced the daily grind. The Spirit wants to give us life through such actions - no matter how domestic.
3 comments:
Beautiful thoughts. I've never really looked at housework this way. I will say that when I am the busiest with non-housework-related chores, I find comfort in the routine-ness of tasks that I formerly found loathsome. It is exactly the mindless repetition of actions that I've performed for 30+ years that sing to my soul in non-spiritual, everyday moments.
P.S. I hope this made sense. I'm working on less than an hour's worth of sleep over the last two days thanks to a sick daughter.
Thanks auburnchick. Your thoughts indeed made sense :) And I think that the moments that sing to your soul are certainly spiritual.
i love that you read that book! :) wish we could get together for coffee and talk about it...
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