The second half of the series on How We Spend Our Time. Following each author’s insights, I’ll offer another perspective on the same theme. Cathy writes about work as prayer. Here’s my take: The easier way, of course, is not to let my work be prayer. It's far simpler to zone out while doing the laundry or the dishes than to move through the motions mindfully. It's more satisfying to grumble about paying bills or cutting kids' hair than to approach it as a loving act of service. It's even easier to jump into the email inbox and the day's to-do list than to honor the professional work I do as sacred. But the stubborn truth is that it's all holy, this everyday mix of action and reflection, creation and repetition. God already blesses work as good; it's up to us to see the same. Maybe we miss it when we call it "work," when we file it under obligation or drudgery. Maybe if we called it all "prayer" - making breakfast or giving baths or compiling spreadsheets or sitting through … [Read more...] about take two: working (and praying)
housework
carry the load
Laundry round here is eternal. Diapers, dirty dishclothes, daily heaps of socks and shirts and pants and bibs and towels. It piles up in towering heaps overnight, and just when I slam the dryer door shut with a satisfying thwack and declare it tackled, I turn to find my boys covered in marker or yogurt or (worst) mysterious unknowns. I sigh, strip them down, fill the tired barrel of the washer once more, and set it again to spin. Laundry without ceasing. . . . I have a handful of friends who are pregnant, most of them expecting number three or four, none of them amateurs at gestation but all of their hands and hearts already full to the brimming. I've promised them prayers, dip into their days with a quick email to inquire how they're doing, but it never feels enough, not when I know how dark and depressing and downright overwhelming the burden of bearing baby can be. I wonder what more I can do, especially for the far-flung friends, the dear ones far across the country that … [Read more...] about carry the load
God of the baking
And again he said, "To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." Luke 13:20-21 Here’s why I love to bake: You start with nothing – an idea, ingredients of possibility, a plan and hope. You slowly start to mix measure and pour, the transformation stirring with your spoon. And suddenly it starts to look and smell and taste alive – creation sticky in my hands, smeared between my fingers, streaked across my hair. The baker’s art takes patience, planning, careful watch of oven’s heat, directions’ time. Forgiveness, too – for cake that falls, deflated; recipes that failed to rise. Baking’s best as company affair: Sometimes I cook with children – grabbing cups and spoons to spill, enthusiasm trumped only by sugar. I sit and watch the wise work, too – laughing, telling stories while they bake with wrinkled hands, forearms strong from years of kneading dough. I ought to say that … [Read more...] about God of the baking
God of the dishes
Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me. Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow. A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit. Psalm 51: 4, 9, 12 Dirty dishes stacked so high, porcelain towers on my right and left. I take the sponge in hand, wring out the water, squeeze on soap, and crank the faucet hot. Steam rises as the stream heats, steady I plunge plates and cups into the bubbles swirled below. Swish, wash, rinse, repeat; the stack grows smaller as I go, plates now neat and nestled drying silent in the rack. My hands turn pink and bright in sink's hot bath; my fingers pruned and white by end of night. Long ago I ate alone: the solitary rinse of single spoon and knife and fork. These days I’m elbow deep in pans, scrubbing steel pots ringed thick with soup, browned casseroles of dinners passed with family, friends all those who gather for my meals. Cynics see the stubborn cycle of the … [Read more...] about God of the dishes
