As I continue this journey through my kindle books, I came upon a book recommended by Sarah Bessey on her blog. It is one of the books who shaped her spiritually. The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Woman’s “Work by Kathleen Norris details the way that our society dismisses the every day work that often falls to women in our society. She examine how such “work” can truly be an offering to God. A good friend of mine works as custodian at our church and he often says “worship is work, work is worship” He takes on the mundane work of maintaining our church building as an act of worship. This is the attitude that Norris puts on as she discovers that laundry, cleaning house and doing the dishes can become a type of liturgy.
This book spoke to me during this season of my life as I spend most days at home caring for the house, the dogs and my husband. I am in a waiting time in my life and as I read and reflect I realize that God is using this time to let me rest and renew myself and my spirit. It’s difficult to have your days work wiped out each night and to have to begin again each morning. The high of planning big events and meeting with a variety of people has been replaced with laundry, floors and picking up dog poop. This book reminds me that all I do is an offering to God. It also reminds me to take the time that I have each day to be in God’s creation and notice the beauty. Norris’s writing is beautiful and precise and I enjoyed settling in to this work while reading it.