Spiritual Classics to Inspire Your Everyday Tasks
In the everyday tasks of life ~ washing dishes, folding laundry, caring for a garden, preparing meals ~ it’s easy to miss the spiritual depth hidden in ordinary work. Yet as I’ve been reflecting on tending, which is the theme of the month in The Deeper Well membership community, I’m reminded again and again that these small, repetitive acts can shape the soul. They invite us to slow down, to notice, and to encounter God right where we are.
Books have been some of my most trusted companions in learning this truth. Authors have taught me to look differently at daily life ~ to see sweeping the floor or watering plants not just as chores, but as ways of tending both body and spirit. If you’d like to deepen your own practice of tending, here are some favorite spiritual classics and practical guides.
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The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
At any moment and in any circumstance, the soul that seeks God may find God. Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century French monk, learned to practice the presence of God at all times. And you can, too. Here in one volume are two classic works by Brother Lawrence.
Each book reveals how to practice God's presence in every facet of your life. The Practice of the Presence of God is a collection of documented conversations and letters that reveal the heart of this humble man.
He wrote, "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen ...I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament." Brother Lawrence's wisdom and spiritual insights have helped bring people closer to God for more than three centuries. The Spiritual Maxims of Brother Lawrence, a lesser known but equally outstanding work, is a summary of his teachings. Throughout, he develops one great theme, best expressed by the psalmist, "In Thy Presence is fulness of joy."
An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
Barbara Brown Taylor invites us to discover God in practices outside of church walls ~ walking, cooking, working, and resting. I particularly love her prayer while hanging laundry, which brings a simple prayer into the rhythms of everyday life. As we tend to our living spaces, we can find the Divine presence by paying attention to what is right in front of us.
In the New York Times bestseller An Altar in the World, acclaimed author Barbara Brown Taylor takes a refreshing look at spiritual practices that can be found all aspects of life.
In An Altar in the World, Taylor shows us how to discover altars everywhere we go and in nearly everything we do as we learn to live with purpose, pay attention, slow down, and revere the world we live in.
Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
What if the overlooked routines of your day became sacred invitations? Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren is a gentle reminder that God’s presence is not just in the extraordinary but in the midst of the ordinary. Through the lens of her own daily life, Warren invites you to find holiness in the mundane and recognize how seemingly small, daily habits shape your spiritual growth.
Framed around one typical day, this book explores life through the lens of liturgy ~ small practices and habits that form us. In each chapter, Warren considers a common daily experience like making the bed, brushing her teeth, and losing her keys.
Drawing from the diversity of her life as a campus minister, Anglican priest, friend, wife, and mother, Warren opens up a practical theology of the everyday.
Closing Encouragement
The spiritual practice of tending is not about perfection or productivity. It is about presence. These books remind us that God’s grace meets us in the kitchen, the garden, and the laundry room ~ just as surely as within the walls of a church.
So if you are looking to reframe the “ordinary” and discover holiness in the everyday, I encourage you to pick one of these resources to accompany you.
May your tending ~ however simple or unseen ~ become a doorway to God’s presence.
Browse the books above, and choose one that speaks to you today.
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