The Common Holy - of Laundry

Laundry is not one of the chores I necessarily like. It is one of the chores that never, ever seem to end. Between soccer practice clothes, soccer uniforms and Tae Kwon Do uniforms there is always something that needs to be washed. Working in a hospital means anything that gets worn to work goes immediately into the laundry before it can be worn again. You probably get the picture – there is always laundry. Perhaps it is the same in your house.

I have developed a routine where I do certain loads on certain days. And while it works for me it does seem to perpetuate the fact that I feel like I am always doing laundry. Then there are the days with so many things going on that I put a load in the washer and the washer buzzes to tell me it was done and, well, four hours later I remember I needed to put the laundry in the dryer. Then there are the things that have to be washed by hand and the part I dislike most, folding the laundry.

Laundry is a very common activity in my house. It is a necessary one. It is one of those chores that I often times grumble about. So this week laundry has become my focus of common holy. How is it that this task can take on an element of holy?  I have Barbara Brown Taylor’s book An Alter in the World: A Geography of Faith to thank for this inspiration. I just finished reading chapter 11 where she talks about prayer. In part of the chapter she writes about how even daily tasks can become prayer as well. These words inspired me to apply this to my task of laundry.

As I wash my hand washables I take a moment to actually feel the cold water swirl around my hands as I move the clothes through the water. I say a prayer of thankfulness that I have clean water that is easily accessible. As I fold the piles of clothes I notice how each one is reflective of the uniqueness of each one of our chosen style and us. I say a prayer of thanks for my husband and daughter who God has blessed me to walk through life with.

As I apply this practice of working prayer I realize that there is an element of blessing going on as well. Again I must thank Taylor and her book An Alter in the World for this perspective to opening me up to the idea of blessing in the every day and common. I think of the evenings spent folding my daughters clothes after she has gone to bed, because once again the day ran out of hours for her to get stuff done (and because I again forgot to put the clothes in the dryer again!) So instead of leaving a pile of clothes for her to fold in the morning I fold them gently and neatly putting them back in the basket for her to put away in the morning. This is blessing her.

Putting the lens of blessing and prayer on the task of laundry has changed my relationship to it just a bit. I again see how there is an element of the holy in prayer and blessing that comes in the work of this chore. In finding the common holy in doing laundry the chore becomes less of a chore and more of an act of love.

And I will have lots of time to practice this new perspective, because the laundry is piling up again…..