Day 6 of the great clean up

I'm writing this before I take a break, a day off. As I work on the great clean up I've been thinking about the proverb cleanliness is next to Godliness. Some say that it came from the late 2nd century Rabbi Phinehas ben-Yair. For me, I know this proverb from John Wesley who said in a sermon in 1791 'Slovenliness is no part of religion.'Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness.' I wasn't aware of the first part until doing a little research. I'd always thought of cleanliness as Francis Bacon seems to have done, namely 'Cleanness of body was ever deemed to proceed from a due reverence to God.' (Advancement of Learning AD 1605) but slovenliness gives a clue which is about being untidy or sloppy as well as unclean.

As I continue the great clean up I have to tackle the bathroom and the kitchen. I have hated washing dishes all my life, well as long as I can remember. I'll wash dishes for other people, I'll organize meals for over 70 people and there is a sense of accomplishment as I clear and put away the dishes. But when it comes to my own kitchen and keeping things in order it is trouble. I tried inspiration from Brother Lawrence who ran the monastery kitchens and whose insights are recorded in The Practice of the Presence of God. It took him 17 years to learn the discipline so I am comforted.

He's told us this quite plainly—he'll also rock the heavens: "One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern." The phrase "one last shaking" means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered. from Hebrew 12: 27-29 The Message