Tuesday Morning, January 10, 2012

Beloved:

Is there anything less interesting on which to spend a chunk of money than a vacuum cleaner?  To fix my old one will cost almost as much as a new one, a dilemma I detest.   But tumbleweeds of dog hair are rolling through my house so to the vacuum dealer I must go.  

In her little book,  The Quotidian Mysteries ~ Laundry, Liturgy & Women’s Work, Kathleen Norris compares domestic chores to liturgy, drawing meaning from the repetition.  The seeming endlessness of cleaning, cooking, shopping are chores things I usually regard as things to ‘get out of the way.’  Out of the way of what? Other, better uses of my time I suppose.  Definitely, watching my daughter cheer and my son swim are more important than doing dishes.  Yet, the time (and money!) spent is time well spent, if I am present and grateful.  There is so much to be grateful for, including a house to clean and the strength to clean it.   

Lord,

may all the stay-at-home parents and students
the plumbers, teachers, doctors
drivers, lawyers, librarians and cashiers
farmers, social workers, musicians and painters
the writers,  the jewelers, the carpenters and secretaries
put hand and heart and mind to this day’s tasks with a grateful spirit.   
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen