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The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work
The bestselling author of The Cloister Walk reflects on the sanctifying possibilities of everyday work and how God is present in worship and liturgy as well as in ordinary life. Definitely not “for women only.” †
89 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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4303 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen Norris
131 books453 followersKathleen Norris was born on July 27, 1947 in Washington, D.C. She grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as on her maternal grandparents’ farm in Lemmon, South Dakota.
Her sheltered upbringing left her unprepared for the world she encountered when she began attending Bennington College in Vermont. At first shocked by the unconventionality surrounding her, Norris took refuge in poetry.
After she graduated in 1969, she moved to New York City where she joined the arts scene, associated with members of the avant-garde movement including Andy Warhol, and worked for the American Academy of Poets.
In 1974, her grandmother died leaving Norris the family farm in South Dakota, and she and her future husband, the poet David Dwyer, decided to temporarily relocate there until arrangements to rent or sell the property could be made. Instead, they ended up remaining in South Dakota for the next 25 years.
Soon after moving to the rural prairie, Norris developed a relationship with the nearby Benedictine abbey, which led to her eventually becoming an oblate.
In 2000, Norris and her husband traded their farmhouse on the Great Plains for a condo in Honolulu, Hawaii, so that Norris could help care for her aging parents after her husband’s own failing health no longer permitted him to travel. Her father died in 2002, and her husband died the following year in 2003.
Her sheltered upbringing left her unprepared for the world she encountered when she began attending Bennington College in Vermont. At first shocked by the unconventionality surrounding her, Norris took refuge in poetry.
After she graduated in 1969, she moved to New York City where she joined the arts scene, associated with members of the avant-garde movement including Andy Warhol, and worked for the American Academy of Poets.
In 1974, her grandmother died leaving Norris the family farm in South Dakota, and she and her future husband, the poet David Dwyer, decided to temporarily relocate there until arrangements to rent or sell the property could be made. Instead, they ended up remaining in South Dakota for the next 25 years.
Soon after moving to the rural prairie, Norris developed a relationship with the nearby Benedictine abbey, which led to her eventually becoming an oblate.
In 2000, Norris and her husband traded their farmhouse on the Great Plains for a condo in Honolulu, Hawaii, so that Norris could help care for her aging parents after her husband’s own failing health no longer permitted him to travel. Her father died in 2002, and her husband died the following year in 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 311 reviews
March 20, 2025
This book is a rich tapestry of humble reflections on the ways in which our ordinary lives, with all their rapid variations in mood, contain seeds of eternity.
I know of no other current writer who so expertly captures the movement of our everyday thoughts!
Kathleen Norris' book on mundane magic was one of my first on my Kindle.
At first, her many incredible segues into apparently unrelated reverie put me off. I guess I was still conditioned by the rigid bureaucratic protocol of my long time office career.
I couldn't easily digest her incessant detours!
As I eased into retirement, though, her meditative and relaxed mode of thinking started to rub off - as I collected more of her thought-provoking thought-journeys into contemplative writing.
And now as I reread this, in fact one of her most recent works (and a quick immersion-baptism into her writings for wannabe readers) years after the first reading I find - yikes! - that I constantly echo her digressive style in my own reviews.
Kathleen has quite a few stories to tell. Her beginnings as a celebrated South Dakotan poet, her Ivy League education, her childhood and later years in Hawaii...
And, on the darker side, her own and her husband's battle with depression, his tragic early death, and her resolution of this darkness in her own bridge-building between the Presbyterian and Catholic churches - embracing them both, and appreciating the way each tradition resonates within her soul.
But this book succeeds in being fairly breezy, entertaining and easy to read.
Its title reminds me of the tale of a reluctant young girl in Atwood’s The Edible Woman, who has a young male friend who finds a Zen-like value in the drudgery of ironing!
Why are we always too BUSY to appreciate the variety of emotions in our mundane, everyday lives? - for you know, THAT’s the place we’ll rediscover our own true selves.
And the sense of the Holy!
WHY do we despise these - our simple Unplugged Selves?
They are the only possible venue for a life that’s REAL. We have to start in the Basement of our life and work our way slowly on up.
And dwell first on our subterranean storage spaces - for there are Treasures deep within us.
And our simple, Unplugged, stream-of-thought meditations while immersed in simple tasks like the laundry, at the lower level of our life, can reveal new Vistas of Thought!
If you want to find meaning in your life, look no further: you’ll find it in Norris’ nonstop desultory movement: a movement with hidden meaning.
Slow DOWN - DARE to be what you are, not something you produce out of a hat for an apparently appreciative audience at the merest, faintest cheer, or out of your blaring earplugs.
Get down to your grassroots, below the weeds of elation or depression and your longtime self-imposed exile from Value!
Life’s not a game. It’s a deep, heartfelt reality - when it is REAL.
Don’t let YOUR life go by in a flash...
And MISS it all!
For now, I'll simply let Ms Norris herself sum up the book for you:
"We want our life to have meaning, we want fulfillment, healing and even ecstasy, but the human paradox is that we find these things by starting where we are, not where we wish we were. We must look for blessings to come from unlikely, everyday places."
Four full stars for a minor masterpiece! I think you'll love it as much as I do - I will return to it again and again in my own reading.
I know of no other current writer who so expertly captures the movement of our everyday thoughts!
Kathleen Norris' book on mundane magic was one of my first on my Kindle.
At first, her many incredible segues into apparently unrelated reverie put me off. I guess I was still conditioned by the rigid bureaucratic protocol of my long time office career.
I couldn't easily digest her incessant detours!
As I eased into retirement, though, her meditative and relaxed mode of thinking started to rub off - as I collected more of her thought-provoking thought-journeys into contemplative writing.
And now as I reread this, in fact one of her most recent works (and a quick immersion-baptism into her writings for wannabe readers) years after the first reading I find - yikes! - that I constantly echo her digressive style in my own reviews.
Kathleen has quite a few stories to tell. Her beginnings as a celebrated South Dakotan poet, her Ivy League education, her childhood and later years in Hawaii...
And, on the darker side, her own and her husband's battle with depression, his tragic early death, and her resolution of this darkness in her own bridge-building between the Presbyterian and Catholic churches - embracing them both, and appreciating the way each tradition resonates within her soul.
But this book succeeds in being fairly breezy, entertaining and easy to read.
Its title reminds me of the tale of a reluctant young girl in Atwood’s The Edible Woman, who has a young male friend who finds a Zen-like value in the drudgery of ironing!
Why are we always too BUSY to appreciate the variety of emotions in our mundane, everyday lives? - for you know, THAT’s the place we’ll rediscover our own true selves.
And the sense of the Holy!
WHY do we despise these - our simple Unplugged Selves?
They are the only possible venue for a life that’s REAL. We have to start in the Basement of our life and work our way slowly on up.
And dwell first on our subterranean storage spaces - for there are Treasures deep within us.
And our simple, Unplugged, stream-of-thought meditations while immersed in simple tasks like the laundry, at the lower level of our life, can reveal new Vistas of Thought!
If you want to find meaning in your life, look no further: you’ll find it in Norris’ nonstop desultory movement: a movement with hidden meaning.
Slow DOWN - DARE to be what you are, not something you produce out of a hat for an apparently appreciative audience at the merest, faintest cheer, or out of your blaring earplugs.
Get down to your grassroots, below the weeds of elation or depression and your longtime self-imposed exile from Value!
Life’s not a game. It’s a deep, heartfelt reality - when it is REAL.
Don’t let YOUR life go by in a flash...
And MISS it all!
For now, I'll simply let Ms Norris herself sum up the book for you:
"We want our life to have meaning, we want fulfillment, healing and even ecstasy, but the human paradox is that we find these things by starting where we are, not where we wish we were. We must look for blessings to come from unlikely, everyday places."
Four full stars for a minor masterpiece! I think you'll love it as much as I do - I will return to it again and again in my own reading.
January 12, 2025
It is hard to pinpoint what I loved about this book except that it has paralleled my own spiritual experiences even though Kathleen and I have led vastly different lives. That she found peace and acceptance and worship in her own everyday life without letting bitterness in was so refreshing to read. She speaks to women and mothers especially even though she never bore a child. Like Charlotte Mason.
August 1, 2018
2018 -- Re-reading this book. Still worthwhile.... glad I re-read it.
************************************************
2010 -- This is actually the first book I read by Kathleen Norris, because I found the title intriguing. It is the text of a lecture the author gave in 1998 that was sponsored by the Center for Spirituality at Saint Mary's College at Notre Dame.
"Quotidian means occurring every day, belonging to every day; commonplace, ordinary."
The author finds that, like Therese of Lisieux, Christ was most abundantly present to her not "during my hours of prayer... but rather in the midst of my daily occupations" (quote from "Story of a Soul" by Therese of Lisieux). God cares about the least of our daily tasks. Jesus instructed us in the Lord's Prayer to pray for our daily bread. So making bread is important. Jesus knelt and washed the feet of his disciples. Serving others is important. Serving through cleaning, doing laundry, preparing a meal. These are all signs of caring, signs of serving others, indications of our love for those we do them for.
These are the types of tasks that are never done. And they shouldn't. Who wants to say, "well, I cooked and served you this wonderful meal to show I care. Now you know, so I never need to do it again." Or, "I've washed and ironed your clothes. That means I love you. Now you know, so I don't need to do this ever again for you, because you know." You eat, but are hungry again. You wash, but the clothes get dirty and need to be laundered again. These are quotidian things. And doing them over and over again demonstrates our love and our care. Because of that, ordinary tasks become holy tasks that transform us. Carrying out holy work makes us holy because we are serving others. Contrary to conventional thought, cooking and cleaning for others does not make us less intelligent or less important or less significant. What God does to us and with us and through us as we carry out seemingly unimportant tasks is the quotidian mystery.
Liturgy, like laundry, is never done. You don't just do it once and are finished. It is ongoing. And participating in it repeatedly and regularly transforms us into the image of Christ, suitable for holy work. Even the holy work of serving others in quotidian tasks.
************************************************
2010 -- This is actually the first book I read by Kathleen Norris, because I found the title intriguing. It is the text of a lecture the author gave in 1998 that was sponsored by the Center for Spirituality at Saint Mary's College at Notre Dame.
"Quotidian means occurring every day, belonging to every day; commonplace, ordinary."
The author finds that, like Therese of Lisieux, Christ was most abundantly present to her not "during my hours of prayer... but rather in the midst of my daily occupations" (quote from "Story of a Soul" by Therese of Lisieux). God cares about the least of our daily tasks. Jesus instructed us in the Lord's Prayer to pray for our daily bread. So making bread is important. Jesus knelt and washed the feet of his disciples. Serving others is important. Serving through cleaning, doing laundry, preparing a meal. These are all signs of caring, signs of serving others, indications of our love for those we do them for.
These are the types of tasks that are never done. And they shouldn't. Who wants to say, "well, I cooked and served you this wonderful meal to show I care. Now you know, so I never need to do it again." Or, "I've washed and ironed your clothes. That means I love you. Now you know, so I don't need to do this ever again for you, because you know." You eat, but are hungry again. You wash, but the clothes get dirty and need to be laundered again. These are quotidian things. And doing them over and over again demonstrates our love and our care. Because of that, ordinary tasks become holy tasks that transform us. Carrying out holy work makes us holy because we are serving others. Contrary to conventional thought, cooking and cleaning for others does not make us less intelligent or less important or less significant. What God does to us and with us and through us as we carry out seemingly unimportant tasks is the quotidian mystery.
Liturgy, like laundry, is never done. You don't just do it once and are finished. It is ongoing. And participating in it repeatedly and regularly transforms us into the image of Christ, suitable for holy work. Even the holy work of serving others in quotidian tasks.
December 20, 2011
It's hard for me to rate such a simple and thought-provoking book. Mostly because my brain just isn't wired (lately, anyway) to absorb as much as possible from Norris's contemplative narrative. It was a simultaneous case of being chock-full truth nuggets and meandering narrative full of images and prose. In short, I think I'm too dense for this book.
Truly, I want to be deep and philosophical enough to understand the nuances of this book and to be able to translate it in a review. However, that far surpasses my ability as a student and writer! All I can say is that I read about this book on a Christian blog that extolled the virtues of repetitive "women's work" and it rang particularly close to home for me. After all, I spend all day taking care of a toddler and doing dishes about a million times. I do laundry almost every other day and I spend most of my day picking up after (or encouraging my son to) my little boy.
Mostly, I took comfort in the idea that our daily work of laundry, cooking, cleaning as being worship and holy. That what we do to take care of ourselves and others can be both an act of indifference or an act of supreme love. That the work that can seem contemptful in the eyes of "feminists" is actually a beautiful and vital thing, that makes me happy and joyful. After all, who wants 90% of what they do all day to be deemed as lowly or simple?
ETA: It's been about seven months since I read this book and it is still with me. I find myself referencing this book often when discussing being a mom as well as just reflecting on my day to day activities. In light of this, even though the writing is dense and perhaps not my style, the ideas are worth adding an extra star to 4 stars. This book has changed my life and perspective.
Truly, I want to be deep and philosophical enough to understand the nuances of this book and to be able to translate it in a review. However, that far surpasses my ability as a student and writer! All I can say is that I read about this book on a Christian blog that extolled the virtues of repetitive "women's work" and it rang particularly close to home for me. After all, I spend all day taking care of a toddler and doing dishes about a million times. I do laundry almost every other day and I spend most of my day picking up after (or encouraging my son to) my little boy.
Mostly, I took comfort in the idea that our daily work of laundry, cooking, cleaning as being worship and holy. That what we do to take care of ourselves and others can be both an act of indifference or an act of supreme love. That the work that can seem contemptful in the eyes of "feminists" is actually a beautiful and vital thing, that makes me happy and joyful. After all, who wants 90% of what they do all day to be deemed as lowly or simple?
ETA: It's been about seven months since I read this book and it is still with me. I find myself referencing this book often when discussing being a mom as well as just reflecting on my day to day activities. In light of this, even though the writing is dense and perhaps not my style, the ideas are worth adding an extra star to 4 stars. This book has changed my life and perspective.
January 28, 2024
Re-read, still greatly enjoyed. I love glimpsing Norris's life and experiences in her generation. And I love the poetry she includes and how she interprets her own work. It also prompted me to re-read the book that introduced me to this one, Liturgy of the Ordinary. I was also reminded of "Song of the Suds," the poem Jo writes to Marmee in Little Women: "Head, you may think; heart, you may feel; But hand, you shall work alway!"
January 13, 2016
A few good things to think about but I found a few things off-putting 1) analyzing and explaining her own poetry 2) lots of explaining why she doesn't have kids, just not sure how this relates and seemed defensive 3) I don't begrudge her not having children, but it's hard to feel that someone who doesn't cook (yes she bakes bread), only does laundry for 2, and is a freelance writer is much of an "authority" on domestic drudgery. Only people like she and Barbara Brown Taylor (another with no kids) seem to relish hanging laundry outside in the wet freezing winter. She even admits herself that other readers have questioned her credibility. Still appreciated the few nuggets of wisdom and perspective and her lovely ways of putting things, and I did feel some inspiration to "keep at it" but for a short volume it could have been clearer and stronger.
February 9, 2010
Kathleen Norris' little book about "laundry, liturgy and 'women's work'" is a must read for anyone who struggles to see the value in repetitive tasks. Quotidian is a word from the Latin meaning daily or ordinary, and in our society where we feel measured by our output, these everyday things like laundry, cooking and dishes can be very discouraging to those who do them day in and day out. It might also be a good read for a spouse who has trouble understanding exactly what their partner does day in and day out. The author is not a stay-at-home mother, so homemakers who work in or outside the home, with or without children, will all relate to her insights. It's a work that is short and very readable, having been delivered as a lecture series, but also thought provoking and deep. I expect that I will be coming back to it again in years to come, for encouragement and insight to sustain me in my daily work.
January 27, 2020
Beautiful nuggets of truth and beauty are sprinkled throughout this small volume. An excellent introduction to Norris if you have not read her before.
August 18, 2017
I really, really wanted to love this slim volume about something which is so close to my heart (how everyday tasks can be worship), and although there were several passages that stood out to me, overall I only liked it. I wasn't really into the analysis of her own poetry, which seemed odd to me, and the language was a bit flowery for my taste. But it was a quick and immersive read, and I would recommend it for contemplation.
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February 23, 2026Heavy reminder that the mundane today is extremely relevant and part of honoring God in His all His glory! Love the poems and break down of prayers and liturgy. I enjoyed her personal stories and her perspective for sure.
January 5, 2021
3.5 stars for me on this one. I liked this book, but I didn't love it like I thought I would. I am fully prepared to use the excuse of "It's not you, it's me." Perhaps, I am in a weird funk and would appreciate it more in a different season. What I did like about it was the call to savor the mundane. One of my favorite quotes in the book was, "What we dread as mindless activity can free us, mind and heart, for the workings of the Holy Spirit, and repetitive motions are conducive to devotions." I liked the call to redeem the mindless work for prayer and praise. What bugged me early on was that I think we have a different theology of work. There seems to be an underlying assumption that God gave us work to do as punishment for our disobedience in Eden whereas I believe there was stewarding, repetitive work to be done before the Fall. We were made for it and we glorify God by doing it. I also kept waiting for her to say that faithfulness in our quotidian work mirrors our Creator incarnate who not only took the form of a servant, but faithfully causes the sun to set and rise everyday, etc. She never really went there with it and I think I personally find that knowledge more motivating in my daily mundane tasks. But, I think I could be wrong for coming to the text with so much expectation and perhaps that limited me from fully appreciating her musings. So happy that this book is so encouraging for many, but for me, other books and ideas have spurred me on more fully to face a sink full of dishes or a load full of laundry...again.
May 13, 2021
I kind of feel odd counting this as a book read, it is the text of a lecture Norris gave in 1998. However, she speaks beautifully about the idea of Liturgy being work, and how that translates into the daily work we do to keep house.
June 6, 2024
My dear, sweet, wonderful college roommate recommended this by saying that reading this book changed her perspective on cleaning bathrooms. Whoa! That may be the most powerful book recommendation ever. I bought it immediately and started reading.
Also, the title captivated me. What is mysterious about the quotidian—the commonplace and ordinary in our lives?
This is a superb 89-page essay by poet and author Kathleen Norris that likens quotidian household chores—those tasks we do day in and day out because they never seem to end—to daily prayer and "the hours" liturgy followed by monks and nuns. It's an impressive and creative way of looking at the boring and mundane. There is holiness in the laundry. You just need to open your eyes to it.
Sprinkled with personal stories, numerous biblical quotations from the psalms to the Gospels, and wise advice through meditative prose, this is a powerful salute to the daily needs and work that we all do—but that often falls especially on women—to maintain a household, be it changing diapers or unloading the dishwasher or scrubbing the toilet. And therein lies the mystery: "It is a quotidian mystery that dailiness can lead to such despair and yet also be at the core of our salvation. We express this every time we utter the Lord's Prayer." Norris goes on to discuss how to find blessings in unlikely, everyday spaces and places that will lead you to holy contemplation.
Do note that she emphatically rejects the idea that these daily tasks that alternate between drudgery and life-support work, do not define us as women. Her essay is not an attempt to make "women's work" holy just so women will embrace it. This daily work is something that should be done by both genders.
Read this essay to find the divine in household chores. It's brilliant, compelling, and inspiring. And it may just change your perspective on cleaning bathrooms!
Also, the title captivated me. What is mysterious about the quotidian—the commonplace and ordinary in our lives?
This is a superb 89-page essay by poet and author Kathleen Norris that likens quotidian household chores—those tasks we do day in and day out because they never seem to end—to daily prayer and "the hours" liturgy followed by monks and nuns. It's an impressive and creative way of looking at the boring and mundane. There is holiness in the laundry. You just need to open your eyes to it.
Sprinkled with personal stories, numerous biblical quotations from the psalms to the Gospels, and wise advice through meditative prose, this is a powerful salute to the daily needs and work that we all do—but that often falls especially on women—to maintain a household, be it changing diapers or unloading the dishwasher or scrubbing the toilet. And therein lies the mystery: "It is a quotidian mystery that dailiness can lead to such despair and yet also be at the core of our salvation. We express this every time we utter the Lord's Prayer." Norris goes on to discuss how to find blessings in unlikely, everyday spaces and places that will lead you to holy contemplation.
Do note that she emphatically rejects the idea that these daily tasks that alternate between drudgery and life-support work, do not define us as women. Her essay is not an attempt to make "women's work" holy just so women will embrace it. This daily work is something that should be done by both genders.
Read this essay to find the divine in household chores. It's brilliant, compelling, and inspiring. And it may just change your perspective on cleaning bathrooms!
May 14, 2025
Quick and beautiful book (really one just long lecture) that discusses the relationship between embodiment, spirituality, and the quotidian work of caring for our bodies, homes, and one another. Really important read if you are a human on earth who does laundry, dishes, etc. Almost everyone! I recommend even if you're not Christian. Had a really contemplative slow rhythm to it, I wish it was longer because of the sense of peace it gave me while reading. Replace "God" or "Christ" with whatever life force lets you go on living another day <3 some choice quotes:
"The work I do must be done
each day, in every season,
like liturgy"
"Care asserts that as difficult and painful as life can be, it is worth something to be in the present, alive, doing one's daily bit."
"...God is intimately concerned with our very bodies and their needs, and I doubt that this is really what we want to hear. Our bodies fail us, they grow old, flabby and feeble, and eventually they lead us to the cross. How tempting it is to disdain what God has created, and to retreat into a comfortable Gnosticism."
"The Christian religion asks us to place our trust not in ideas, and certainly not in ideologies, but in a God who was vulnerable enough to become human and die, and who desires to be present with us in our everyday circumstances. And because we are human, it is in the realm of the daily and the mundane that we must find our way to God."
"The work I do must be done
each day, in every season,
like liturgy"
"Care asserts that as difficult and painful as life can be, it is worth something to be in the present, alive, doing one's daily bit."
"...God is intimately concerned with our very bodies and their needs, and I doubt that this is really what we want to hear. Our bodies fail us, they grow old, flabby and feeble, and eventually they lead us to the cross. How tempting it is to disdain what God has created, and to retreat into a comfortable Gnosticism."
"The Christian religion asks us to place our trust not in ideas, and certainly not in ideologies, but in a God who was vulnerable enough to become human and die, and who desires to be present with us in our everyday circumstances. And because we are human, it is in the realm of the daily and the mundane that we must find our way to God."
October 2, 2024
This book is tiny, only 88 pages, yet it packs a lot of thought. I feel like the author lost me somewhere in the middle. Her thoughts felt disconnected from the rest of it, but I still enjoyed the peace I felt as she led me through the idea of growth that happens in the everyday.
December 10, 2020
Not quite what I expected, but some good thoughts in this.
December 19, 2024
My rating is slightly too generous; I remember one line that, with Norris sounding like she thought she was better than other women, left a bad taste in my mouth. But overall, this was a very very beautiful little book, in both what it said and how it was said. Faith as everyday, as mundane, as quotidian. Norris describes how the word quotidian is derived from the latin: quot (how many) and dies (day), where the latter has linguistic connections with deus (god). The renewal of each day is divine. Repetition - of the day, of the acts in a day, especially those domestic, mundane acts - can be sacred, sanctified, with a priestly role. Their existence, radically, powerfully, then suggests the Christian faith is necessarily corporeal, in the realm of this world, and characterised by God’s love for us, where such quotidian, too, embodies love.
August 30, 2022
an elegant exaltation of a God whose sanctuary includes the laundry room, the kitchen sink, and the winding roads of a the unsuspecting feminine life. i found Norris’ monastic reflections tending to my busy heart like a memorized hymn throughout the chaos of my days. modernity does not need more innovation; it needs more songs to sing that will remind us that the ordinary liturgy of housework has already been sanctified by Jesus
July 24, 2012
This book is basically an expanded, poetic expression of the more concise thought we find in the epistles: “Whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not as unto men.” Now I’ve long been familiar with that Bible verse. I’ve thought about it, and I’ve tried to apply it, but I’ve never succeeded. Yet thinking of work – particularly the repetitive work that is never finished because it must be done anew every day – as a kind of liturgy has been quite helpful to me. Before reading this book, I never thought to think of laundry and making beds and washing dishes and caring for the children in quite that way, but as a stay-at-home mother, it’s a useful perspective to have. I don’t have a problem with repeating the same words in church every week; yes, sometimes it can seem dull, but I don’t question it’s value, the way I and society so often question the value of “women’s work.” I understand the purpose of liturgy – the work it is meant to do on the soul, the self-discipline it is meant to create, the way it roots us to others, the way one can find new meaning in old words and old actions at unexpected times. It simply hadn’t occurred to me that “women’s work” can do those same things. This is not to say I am now in love with domestic drudgery, but it has for me given more meaning to the work society too often belittles and made it feel like less of a drudgery.
Because I read this book as part of an excellent small group discussion at my church, it’s hard for me to rate. I always benefit more from the discussions themselves than from the books we read, so I’m not sure I’m giving credit where credit is due, so I settled on four stars.
This is a quick read, but only because it’s so short. I wouldn’t say it’s easy. I don’t consider myself to be particularly deficient in vocabulary, but I felt I needed to have a dictionary next to me at all times while reading. It contains some of the author's poetry as well as some verses from other poets, and poetry also requires effort to read.
Because I read this book as part of an excellent small group discussion at my church, it’s hard for me to rate. I always benefit more from the discussions themselves than from the books we read, so I’m not sure I’m giving credit where credit is due, so I settled on four stars.
This is a quick read, but only because it’s so short. I wouldn’t say it’s easy. I don’t consider myself to be particularly deficient in vocabulary, but I felt I needed to have a dictionary next to me at all times while reading. It contains some of the author's poetry as well as some verses from other poets, and poetry also requires effort to read.
September 5, 2022
3.5 stars
This is a brief little book that discusses the value of daily life, particularly those chores deemed "woman's work." I enjoyed it overall, found it thought-provoking and calming, and I think a reread in the next year or so will help me to process some of this a bit better.
There were a few things I disagreed with, or didn't love:
I thought it strange that the author made several comments alluding to the idea that everyone gets married. It would seem that as a childless woman herself, she would recognize that not everyone fits a mold in that way.
The author is definitely Catholic, so some Catholic ideas bled through, and there were verses quoted from the Apocrypha. The author states that (human) marriage is eternal (rather than ending at death, which is what the Bible teaches), and talks about how Christians are brides/spouses of Christ, whereas the Bible doesn't claim that each individual Christian is a bride of Christ. This would mean that Christ has multiple brides and is polyamorous, which He is not. The Bible is clear that all Christians, together as one entity, united, are the Bride of Christ.
The author includes several of her own poems and I just wasn't crazy about the poems at all. I'm not a fan of poetry, generally speaking, and when I do read poetry, I want it to rhyme and be easy to follow the narrative. These didn't fit my criteria for decent poetry.
But, I did like it and appreciated much of what the author had to say. It's so short that it would be easy to recommend, as well.
This is a brief little book that discusses the value of daily life, particularly those chores deemed "woman's work." I enjoyed it overall, found it thought-provoking and calming, and I think a reread in the next year or so will help me to process some of this a bit better.
There were a few things I disagreed with, or didn't love:
I thought it strange that the author made several comments alluding to the idea that everyone gets married. It would seem that as a childless woman herself, she would recognize that not everyone fits a mold in that way.
The author is definitely Catholic, so some Catholic ideas bled through, and there were verses quoted from the Apocrypha. The author states that (human) marriage is eternal (rather than ending at death, which is what the Bible teaches), and talks about how Christians are brides/spouses of Christ, whereas the Bible doesn't claim that each individual Christian is a bride of Christ. This would mean that Christ has multiple brides and is polyamorous, which He is not. The Bible is clear that all Christians, together as one entity, united, are the Bride of Christ.
The author includes several of her own poems and I just wasn't crazy about the poems at all. I'm not a fan of poetry, generally speaking, and when I do read poetry, I want it to rhyme and be easy to follow the narrative. These didn't fit my criteria for decent poetry.
But, I did like it and appreciated much of what the author had to say. It's so short that it would be easy to recommend, as well.
January 3, 2017
I give this three and a half stars. Parts of it I really loved--and other parts I really disliked. However, the main theme of the book resonates with me, and I will approach my daily living with a different perspective now.
Contemporary life leaves little time for contemplation, and contemplation is little valued. Yet I am valuing it more than ever. I appreciated this book's encouragement to approach the daily tasks of life as liturgy and time to contemplate the grace of God in my life's circumstances, the glory of creation, and the truths of His Word.
Contemporary life leaves little time for contemplation, and contemplation is little valued. Yet I am valuing it more than ever. I appreciated this book's encouragement to approach the daily tasks of life as liturgy and time to contemplate the grace of God in my life's circumstances, the glory of creation, and the truths of His Word.
February 28, 2009
Own. Kathleen Norris is devoutly Catholic, but her essay is well-grounded in Scripture and Christ; I do not think her Catholicism is a hindrance to her encouraging, earthy message: it is in repetitive, "menial" work that holy contemplation lie, in tedious necessities that we find ourselves and God once our vision is cleared and focused.
Did you notice that was all one sentence? :)
Did you notice that was all one sentence? :)
July 10, 2018
Such a rich (and short) exploration of the spiritual value of ordinary things. Like Brother Lawrence's work, but taken from a different vantage point, Norris' 1998 Madeleva lecture points the way to how we can have the wonder of children and the blessing of sages while putting another load in the wash.
A special thanks to Drew Norris whose love of this book led to my reading of it.
A special thanks to Drew Norris whose love of this book led to my reading of it.
April 21, 2015
Once again - Kathleen delivers! A quickish read that refreshed my viewpoint. She restates, in her subterranean, poetic way all the things I know (or at least suspect) and I always walk away lighter, believing life is a a little more beautiful. We don't agree on every theological tittle but I can handle it.
A gem.
A gem.
October 16, 2015
I really enjoyed this short little book. Lots of lovely food for thought and inspiration for the ordinariness of daily work and life.
June 24, 2016
Lots of great things to ponder about keeping a home. I love how she saw the priests cleaning up after communion as "doing the dishes."
March 7, 2018
One of the homeschooling ladies I follow on Instagram at one point mentioned this book on a day when I was particularly grumbling about housework and how it is NEVER done!
I decided to purchase this 88 page book written off of a lecture Norris did. I am very glad I did. It has helped me in so many ways change the way I feel about the every day tasks that have to be done and redone every day and the gift in that. Very thankful.
I believe she is Catholic?!? So there were parts of prayers or types of service she mentioned that I didn’t know about but even with that being said, a great book to grapple with as I sweep, mop, vacuum, wash laundry, dry laundry, and fold and put away laundry, and do the best I can in those little jobs. Lots of encouragement and food for thought. And our kitchen sink has been clear of dishes more nights than not as a result! 😉
Quotidian: everyday, common place.
Quote from the book: “It is a paradox of human life that in worship, as in human love, it is in the routine and the every-day that we find the possibilities for the greatest transformation. Both worship and housework often seem perfunctory. And both, by the grace of God, may be anything but. At its Latin root, perfunctory means “to get through with,” and we can easily see how liturgy, laundry and what has traditionally been conceived of as ‘women’s work’ can be done in that indifferent spirit. But the joke is on us: what we think we are only ‘getting through’ has the power to change us, just as we have the power to transform what seems meaningless- the endless repetitions of a litany or the motions of vacuuming a floor. What we dread as mindless activity can free us, mind and heart, for the workings of the Holy Spirit, and anything is fair game for prayer, anything or anyone who pops into he mind can be included.”
I decided to purchase this 88 page book written off of a lecture Norris did. I am very glad I did. It has helped me in so many ways change the way I feel about the every day tasks that have to be done and redone every day and the gift in that. Very thankful.
I believe she is Catholic?!? So there were parts of prayers or types of service she mentioned that I didn’t know about but even with that being said, a great book to grapple with as I sweep, mop, vacuum, wash laundry, dry laundry, and fold and put away laundry, and do the best I can in those little jobs. Lots of encouragement and food for thought. And our kitchen sink has been clear of dishes more nights than not as a result! 😉
Quotidian: everyday, common place.
Quote from the book: “It is a paradox of human life that in worship, as in human love, it is in the routine and the every-day that we find the possibilities for the greatest transformation. Both worship and housework often seem perfunctory. And both, by the grace of God, may be anything but. At its Latin root, perfunctory means “to get through with,” and we can easily see how liturgy, laundry and what has traditionally been conceived of as ‘women’s work’ can be done in that indifferent spirit. But the joke is on us: what we think we are only ‘getting through’ has the power to change us, just as we have the power to transform what seems meaningless- the endless repetitions of a litany or the motions of vacuuming a floor. What we dread as mindless activity can free us, mind and heart, for the workings of the Holy Spirit, and anything is fair game for prayer, anything or anyone who pops into he mind can be included.”
February 4, 2020
“...what we think we are only “getting through” has the power to change us...”
Maybe I should rate this 5 stars.
Norris is maybe not someone I would go to church with, but I found myself so moved by this 88-page wonder. I may just restart it today. She reminds me a bit of Madeleine l’Engle, bringing her considerable intellect and imagination to bear on some of life’s most precious and troubling issues, and she does so with intimate memoir-musings, theological thoughts, and more.
I found an unexpected “grip” for my own acedia (a word I didn’t know until reading this book), and some fuel for fighting this winter’s depression in these pages. Ideally I would begin copying quotes from it into my commonplace book now, but I found too many quotable/highlighted thoughts here...
Maybe I should rate this 5 stars.
Norris is maybe not someone I would go to church with, but I found myself so moved by this 88-page wonder. I may just restart it today. She reminds me a bit of Madeleine l’Engle, bringing her considerable intellect and imagination to bear on some of life’s most precious and troubling issues, and she does so with intimate memoir-musings, theological thoughts, and more.
I found an unexpected “grip” for my own acedia (a word I didn’t know until reading this book), and some fuel for fighting this winter’s depression in these pages. Ideally I would begin copying quotes from it into my commonplace book now, but I found too many quotable/highlighted thoughts here...
December 27, 2020
I was not expecting to gain such insight! It was filled with so many layered vignettes- part memoir, part spiritual inspiration, part tribute to a monastic lifestyle which breathe in deep appreciation for all things ordinary, yet profoundly holy. This was a contemplative piece that despite only 88pages took a while to read through to absorb all of layers. This did not truly peak my interest until around page 44 due to the writing structure which lacked transitions. It often felt like a long run on sentence. At that halfway point, I soaked in her style and added this to my list of something to reread many times in my life. This book could grow with you through many different seasons of life.
March 27, 2019
I was hoping for a book truly connecting the unending nature of laundry and dishes to worship. However, this book missed the mark for me. It mostly contained the various ramblings of the author many of which were not fully developed and abruptly jumped from one to another. I also really struggled with a part when the author seemingly wrote off therapy completely and said the focus should be on spiritual work. Maybe she didn’t mean it this way, but I’m very wary of anything that speaks in absolutes. We as church need to recognize there is very much a place for therapy along with spiritual work and healing. Ultimately, this just wasn’t the book for me.
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