Explore the place where clean and holy
meet—and chart
a new course toward discovering
sanctity.
“I’ve always sought solace in
cleaning.... As my husband and I packed up our apartment and
cleaned the profound dust of the Twin Towers from our books and
pillows, we used this shared ritual as an opportunity to
reflect and heal. As my neighbor once said, ‘Cleaning
house is my church.’”
—from the Introduction
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.
Contributors include: Gaston Bachelard
• Gwendolyn Brooks • Joan Chittister • Billy
Collins • John Crawford • Mahatma Gandhi • Allen
Ginsberg • Thich Nhat Hanh • Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Homer • Martin Luther King, Jr. • Cheryl
Mendelson • Pablo Neruda • Kathleen Norris •
Louise Rafkin • Otagaki Rengetsu • Marilynne Robinson
• Rumi • Starhawk • … and many others
Named to the 2007 "Top 10 Spiritual Summer Reading List" by the
Detroit Free Press
"Thoughtful, surprising ... aims to inspire us to think differently about how we keep our domestic space. The importance of loving family, self, and something transcendent ties these writings together. It's hard to resist."
—Washington Post
"A timeless theme ... a cultural landmark exploring our changing attitudes about home."
—Detroit Free Press
“Lovely…. Articulates what
many women know but hesitate to admit: housekeeping has a
unique spiritual quality, if only we will tap into it. Simply
read and enjoy whenever you need to find the sacred in
housekeeping once again.”
—Marcia
Ford, author of Finding Hope: Cultivating God’s Gift of a
Hopeful Spirit
“Finds meaning in the ever-present
reality of housekeeping.… It is at once lovely, inspiring
and thoughtful.”
—Karyn D.
Kedar, author of The Bridge to Forgiveness: Stories and Prayers for
Finding God and Restoring Wholeness
“Slowly shakes loose our need to
constantly distinguish small from large, mundane from sacred,
interior from exterior…. Uncommonly joyful in the way it
affirms the simplicity we sense directly in spiritual life,
while at the same time including the mysteries and intensities
of the immeasurable dwelling place.”
—Bonnie
Myotai Treace, Hermitage Heart Zen
“An eclectic and ecumenical treasury
of writings—ancient and modern, poetry and prose, secular
and sacred…. Dissolves the boundaries between drudgery
and dharma, celebrating the opportunities for transcendence
that can be found in the everyday. Feng Shui for the heart,
mind and soul.”
—Arthur
Goldwag, author of The Beliefnet Guide to Kabbalah
