My mother's line still hums through my head.
"Cleaning time is finding time!"
It was of course her thinly disguised plug for chores, but it proved true often enough. She also coined the phrase "I cleanered the house" which meant that while it was not spic and span, conditions had gone up a notch.
Before quarantine I sometimes indulged myself by hiring a young woman to help with tidying up. There were days when I provided a list, and others when I just let her tackle any room she chose. She made a few bucks, and I felt less swamped. A win win.
One week I walked into the kitchen in a hurry to begin supper, when I stopped. I had forgotten she was coming. But all around me was evidence. Clear counters, wiped surfaces, an empty sink, a mopped floor. Ahh. What a pleasure it would be to chop and stir now. Maybe I would even splurge and bake some cookies.
Another time she tackled the bathroom, which had fallen into a sorry state of clutter. What a pleasure to brush my teeth in the reflection of such a spotless mirror.
One day I had known that this was indeed the morning for domestic sparkle. I anticipated the look of the dining room table, and the living room. But I was disappointed to see them unchanged. A rumble of complaints congested in my head, while I picked up dirty plates and stacked them in the dishwasher. I hurriedly filled a pot with water for pasta and put soap in the dispenser. After starting the appliance I went hunting for salad makings. Then I saw it.
She had cleaned the fridge. Dealt with shriveled lettuce. Chucked moldy leftovers. Rinsed off sticky jars and washed the shelves. It was pristine. Then the memory resurfaced. This was precisely what I had asked her to do.
It can be tempting to have opinions about the effort that other people put into personal growth. Or don't. We are they not exercising? Where is the attention to political involvement? Why are they not in a small group?
But it is possible that they are attending to areas of their life that are invisible to us at first blush. It might even be exactly what God has asked them to do.
