I've come to realize in this summer "place" and time hanging out laundry on the line is restorative to my soul. In an era of moving quickly our surroundings become a blur as we fly past to something else. We pay attention to our cell phones, speedometers, to-do- lists, emails, and clocks all in an illusion to manage time. But for me, this time here gives me the opportunity to be able to dry clothes in the fresh mountain air which is a blessed relief from the fast pace life most of us live. It is a time to reconnect and be in communion with all others that are able to do the same task as I do. It is a time of reverence, of slowing down, listening, feeling, connecting, but most of all prayer. This prayer comes in the form of being blest to bend down and feel the wet weight of the clothes as the basket creaks as I set it down. The prayer continues as I gently shake loose the articles of clothing that are entwined. I can smell the dampness mingled with the fresh air as each article is hung. How blest am I to be able to breath. I feel the warmth of the sun on my shoulders as I pin each piece. Above all I can see the laundry as a sacred prayer contained in God's love and presence. Even the arrangement of the linen plays a sacred song as they twist and wave in the warm breeze. I look at the wooden clothespins and add a prayer for the trees from which the pins came. I imagine my thoughts, feelings, and prayers spinning their way to the tops of the trees. I believe there are times that we are in communion with which often times grants more life than kneeling in prayer. Maybe for me at this time hanging laundry is the most authentic prayer in reach.
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