Next to Godliness

by Peck, Alice

• ISBN13: 9781594732140
• ISBN10: 1594732140
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-02-01
• Publisher: Skylight Paths Pub

Summary

Be they our kitchens after a meal or our communities after a crisis, we all face the times-and opportunities-when we must clean up. Through a beautiful, diverse and eclectic array of personal narratives, fiction, sacred texts and verse, this inspiring book offers new perspectives on the unique ways we can reach out for the Divine within the simple acts of washing the dishes, doing the laundry, making a home and more. Giving the process of cleaning house depth and resonance, these writings will speak to your heart and allow you to see beyond the task at hand and into a greater undertaking-to realize the sacred in all that we do. From sweeping the home, to organizing the office, to cleaning up the more daunting "Big Messes" in our communities, this engaging book touches upon every facet of our lives. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xi
Washing the Dishes
"Bathing a Newborn Buddha"	p. 3
Sacrament	p. 5
Cadence	p. 7
"Doing the Dishes"	p. 8
"Clearing the Table"	p. 10
Laundry
"At Last, Her Laundry's Done"	p. 17
"An Ode for Ironing"	p. 20
Birthday	p. 21
Resurrection of the Ordinary	p. 24
Artist	p. 27
Integrative Practice	p. 29
"Love Calls Us to the Things of This World"	p. 31
Sweeping
Compositions	p. 39
Making Drudgery Divine	p. 40
"Baha'u'llah's Banishment to Iraq"	p. 42
A Common Thing in an Uncommon Manner	p. 43
"Sweeping"	p. 45
Here and Not Elsewhere	p. 47
Action	p. 48
The Natural Order of Things
True Economy	p. 55
"A Plain Talk as to Securing Negro Homes"	p. 56
"How to Invoke Magic"	p. 57
"Clutter and the Matter of Life and Death"	p. 58
"Kavvanah for Cleaning"	p. 62
"The Tools and Goods of the Monastery"	p. 64
"One Hour Sorting"	p. 66
In the Company of Angels	p. 67
Housework
"The Idea of Housework"	p. 73
"A Song from the Suds	p. 75
True Spirit	p. 77
"The Joys of Housework: Late Have I Loved It"	p. 78
"A Yen for Cleaning"	p. 82
Dignity	p. 100
Answered Prayer	p. 101
Making Home
Restoration	p. 109
"Sanctuary"	p. 110
"Kate and Becca Housecleaning	p. 113
"Everyday Edens: Spending Another Day in Paradise"	p. 114
First Job	p. 117
"Maud Martha Spares the Mouse"	p. 118
Workspace
"Advice to Writers"	p. 123
"Cleaning the Kitchen Is Cleaning the Mind"	p. 125
Engage	p. 127
Practice	p. 128
Spirit	p. 129
"I Stop Writing the Poem"	p. 131
Consecration	p. 132
Guests and Holidays
Feast	p. 137
Grace	p. 138
The Good Part	p. 142
"Martha"	p. 143
Domicile	p. 147
First Fruits	p. 148
"Removing the Soot"	p. 151
"Spring Cleaning Ritual on the Eve of the Full Moon Nisan"	p. 152
Big Messes
Ecopoiesis	p. 161
"Comfort"	p. 162
"Homework"	p. 164
Ash	p. 166
Women's Work	p. 170
Restoring Order	p. 171
"No Crying in Baseball"	p. 173
"Last of the Midnight Lullabies"	p. 175
"Offering"	p. 178
"Prayer"	p. 180
Acknowledgments	p. 181
Credits	p. 182
About the Contributors	p. 187
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