One morning I rode my breath
into the presence of God
and (not wanting to waste the opportunity)
I asked, what should I do?
Some time later
the answer rose up warm through my soles
on the cold wooden floor:
Go do the dishes
So I did and then, and later,
I noticed it was always the right thing
to wash the dishes
as an expression of love and gratitude
a sensual pleasure
a social solution
the end of a string to lead me out of an impasse
After a lifetime of resisting and resenting
dishes as punishment and oppression,
this humble task became my calling
and my relief
my meditation
my prayer
my blessing
Thich Nhat Hanh says:
Washing the dishes
is like bathing a baby Buddha
Rabbi Abraham Hayyim said:
My most important job is to make sure
that no trace of food remains on the dishes
And Rabbi Shmelke confirmed:
Now you know everything you need to know
Rabbi Kushner says
Allowing oneself to be nothing means that
when we are done with our sophisticated-sounding sentences,
the dishes must be washed.
Beyond nothing-to-think is life-to-be-lived
To clean the dishes with kavanah, mindfully,
is to wash away ego
Hineini
Here I am,
feet on the floor, hands in the sink.
Here I am,
Pulling my attention back and back and back to this act.
Here I am,
restoring beauty and order,
washing away what hides the divine spark.
Tikkun olan
© January 2006
3 comments:
Very beautiful Meliors
- Ernst
A wonderful reminder about what is sacred and beautiful in our everyday acts! Loved this so much, Meliors, I have sent it around to all the women in my life - with your name and copyright and blog address too of course!!!
Just reporting back - I have probably shown your poem to about 20 people, mostly women but also my Dad. Everyone loved it - especially mothers for some reason..... :-) My usually cynical hard nosed friend in the UK said it made her smile, but I forget she is now a Priestess of Avalon so has her spiritual side too...
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