From Joan B. MacDonald, her book ‘The Holiness of Everyday Life:
Years ago, in a college biochemistry course, I learned something about myself. I learned how to learn. Before an exam, several students would gather to study together. While others struggled to memorize cycles and pathways, I seemed to have no problem. One night a fellow student asked me for my trick. After giving it some thought, I realized I couldn’t “memorize” any better than anyone else. However, I loved figuring out the way things work. I would study cycles and pathways, trying to figure what was going on and why. Once I understood, I remembered the details. I still learn that way. The answer to my housework problem was difficult and both simple and complex. As with biochemistry, it was easy to do it once I understood. Also as with the biochemistry, the struggle was in coming to an understanding.
I started with the usual “to dos.” I read the “how-to” books—many excellent ones. I got the necessary equipment. I scheduled, organized, plotted and planned. I read inspirational articles reminding me of the importance of my task. I still hated housework! I still felt resentful! I continued to read and talk to other women. Gradually a new understanding began to dawn. I shifted my focus away from “to do” and toward “to be.” My shift started with this scripture: “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any praise, if there be any virtue, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8; emphasis added.)
“Think on these things.” OK! While I do housework I’ll think about virtue and praise and loveliness. You know those positive thinking books I mentioned earlier—the ones that give you so many ways to change your viewpoint? That’s what came next. I read them all. Surely that would do the trick. I wrote affirmations and taped them on the bathroom mirror. Now we’re getting somewhere! I thought. I did visualizations, picturing myself cheerfully whistling as I vacuumed an immaculate floor. I felt great while I was affirming. I felt great while I was visualizing. I felt frustrated, resentful, inadequate, and inefficient while I was cleaning! What now? Back to the scriptures!
Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and not perceive.(Acts 28:26.) Was there something here I was not perceiving. I didn’t think so. All that was here was clutter, dirt and hard work, right? Hmmm.
The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance. (1 Samuel 16:7.)
Well, there was no question I was looking on the outward appearance. Could these scriptures be applied to the homely job of housework? It seemed unlikely. These scriptures were talking about spiritual things. Housework, it seemed to me was definitely not spiritual; mundane, temporal, worldly, sometimes even dreary, but spiritual? No, definitely not spiritual.
While I was pondering these things, I heard an interesting discussion at church. The discussion was about Joseph Smith’s assertion that all things are spiritual. We then discussed spiritual attributes of the physical world. Some of the words used were purity, order, simplicity, truth, and beauty. Purity—order—beauty. Oh my goodness, that was it! Why hadn’t I seen it before (“seeing ye shall see and not perceive”)? The next time I cleaned, I looked. Sure enough, there they were (admittedly, not until I was done, but there nonetheless): purity (cleanliness), order, and beauty. Housework was not about dirt. Housework is not about clutter. Housework is not about time or work or energy of fatigue. Housework is not about who messed up or who cleaned up. And housework is definitely not about me! Housework is about purity, order and beauty.
The Apostle Paul, quoting Isaiah, wrote, “The heart of this people waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and should be converted.” (Acts 28:26.) In the sense that converted means changed, I was converted. I have never looked at housework in the same way again. Before, I looked at the work before me and saw five things: clutter, work, injustice, inadequacy, and carelessness. Let’s go back over some of those things and look at them with new eyes. ~Joan B. MacDonald,The Holiness of Everyday Life (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 1995) 16-20
