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The Dignity of Housework
"There are those arts necessary for survival: these are the arts concerned with growing crops, making clothes, and building houses. Without food, clothing and shelter we should die; so the arts associated with producing these things are noble and fine."
St. John Chrysostom, 'On Living Simply', Missouri: Liguori/Triumph, 1996, p36
posted by Holly at 11:28 AM
3 Comments:
Let's take St. John's thought a little farther. Growing crops is a noble task, but so too is feeding our families from those crops - baking bread, cooking supper, and doing dishes. Making clothes is a noble task, but so too is caring for those clothes -- putting in a load of laundry and ironing. Building houses is a noble task, but so too is the care of those houses -- vacuuming, dusting, painting and wallpapering! Housework has dignity. It too ensures the survival of our family.
This makes me think about the works of mercy which we perform daily as mothers. How many times do we instruct or advise our children? Offer them our forgiveness? Console and cuddle them? Each day we are called to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, shelter the homeless. We stay up all night with sick children. We share the Father's love with our family. We are His hands and His Feet. I am so grateful to God for calling me to this holy vocation.
Jen, you bring up a good point: being grateful for our vocations! I am glad God called me to be a wife and mother, and I thank Him for my husband & children, but I don't think I have ever thanked Him for calling me to this particular life. That is very important, I think, in being able to do our work in the right spirit. How many times do we begrudge our children or spouses our time or energy? Instead, we (I) ought to be joyful in our "yes" to them, for it is really a "yes" to God!
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