Next to Godliness: Finding the Sacred in Housekeeping - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594732140 ISBN 13: 9781594732140

Publisher: SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2007

Synopsis

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:

Louisa May Alcott · Gaston Bachelard · James Baldwin · Andrea Barrett · Mary Catherine Bateson · Jeannette Batz · Sue Bender · Stephen Vincent Benét · Henri Bosco · Sarah Ban Breathnach · Gwendolyn Brooks · Brother Lawrence · Dominique Browning · Yitzhak Buxbaum · Lydia Maria Child · Joan Chittister · Billy Collins · Amiya Corbin · John Crawford · Dorothy Day · Shoghi Effendi · Rick Fields · Sir James George Frazer · Tess Gallagher · Mahatma Gandhi · Allen Ginsberg · Bernard Glassman · Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb · Tenzin Gyatso · Thich Nhat Hanh · Nathaniel Hawthorne · Homer · Ashley Isaacson · Martin Luther King, Jr · Dorianne Laux · Ursula K. Le Guin · Eric Leigh · Jarvis Jay Masters · Cheryl Mendelson · Mother Teresa · Pablo Neruda · Marsha Norman · Gunilla Norris · Kathleen Norris · Kakuzo Okakura · Marc Poirier · Louise Rafkin · Otagaki Rengetsu · Rainer Maria Rilke · Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche · Marilynne Robinson · Taigu Ryokan · Hannah Whitall Smith · Starhawk · Henry David Thoreau · Gary Thorp · Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe · Booker T. Washington · Jessamyn West · Richard Wilbur · Virginia Woolf · Anzia Yezierska

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Finding time for peaceful reflection can be difficult in our fast-paced lives and full schedules packed with family, social and household obligations. These thoughtfully chosen pieces offer us new ways to nurture ourselves in our daily lives while we perform our ordinary, necessary, everyday chores.

Speaking from many faith traditions and backgrounds, the contributors to this collection contemplate, illuminate and unveil the mysteries to be discovered in common housekeeping duties. Topics include:

• Washing the Dishes
• Making Home
• Laundry
• Work Space
• Sweeping
• Guests and Holidays
• The Natural Order of Things
• Big Messes
• Housework

Delve into these words and allow yourself to discover the possibilities in the (seemingly) mundane process of cleaning house.

About the Author:

Alice Peck is an innovative editor and writer. She serves as a consultant to many published authors and produced screenwriters. She spent years writing, developing and acquiring material for broadcast and cable television as well as feature films before devoting herself to writing and editing books.

About this edition

• Publisher: SkyLight Paths Publishing
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1594732140
• ISBN 13: 9781594732140
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Peck Alice