This morning, I did some very domestic things: ironing and sewing. I added the latest round of patches to my daughter’s Brownie vest. For me, this work is methodical enough to be meditative and emotionally significant enough to be spiritual. I enjoy it, a lot.
And each time I do this, I am also reminded of how this “traditional”, domestic work is deeply feminist — because I have the choice to do it. That choice is mine because of battles fought and won by women who have come before me, and those battles still continue for many more who do not share the cultural privilege I have due to my skin colour and class.
As a minister, I am constantly challenged to think of how the most mundane parts of our lives are relevant to our personal spiritual journeys, the building of our religious communities, and the ongoing creation and refinement of humanities many theo/a/xlogies — including the ones where higher powers and deities are irrelevant or even non-existent.
Ironing and sewing — something which I consistently do in my family unit, not just when my daughter brings home new badges for her vest — are something I do that remind me of the thealogical source of my feminism. For me, it arises out of the divine feminine — not just gods who appear as woman throughout the world’s religions, but also acknowledging that humans contain within them a depth of character and being that transcends the categories of gender performance and sex assignment into which we feel the need to force people. My feminism is as much about celebrating the inner, and ever shifting, balance of one person’s divinity on a gender spectrum as it is about celebrating the larger multitude of world traditions.
And, in particular, when I am working on my daughter’s Girl Scout uniform, it is something so mundane that is, at the same time, connected to the larger world, and to my faith, in such meaningful ways. The choices we make outside of our congregations, and covens, moots, and all the numerous ways we pagans and heathens gather, are choices that connect us ever deeper to our beliefs, our communities, and our Earth. It’s not just about sewing love into every stitch, but also letting our vision soar outward at the same time.
What are the mundane tasks in your life that help you connect with your own spiritual journey? What do you do on a regular basis that you could use to help you reconnect with our interdependent web of all existence? How do you ground yourself in love and faith in order to serve the world, no matter how small?
Blessed be.
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