Keeping House The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson – Save 32% Today!
From Publishers WeeklyIn this deeply theological, welcome book, Peterson (Sing Me to Heaven) argues in favor of the idea—no longer fashionable—that Christian service and spiritual growth are inherent in the acts of keeping people fed, clean, housed and comfortable. Housekeeping, she says, is akin to a litany, a long public prayer to announce needs and requests. A litany is repetitive and focused on the basics: food, health, shelter. Similarly, housework is ongoing and incarnational, teaching us about Jesus earthiness and decision to live among us; it requires perpetual tending, much like Gods active sustaining of the world. All the more is this so when our homes are not all we might wish them to be, Peterson points out. Gods world is not as he wishes it to be, either. Addressing such topics as laundry, cleaning, shopping and cooking, Peterson offers persuasive biblical interpretations and incisive theological and cultural commentary. The two chapters on food and its preparation are especially groundbreaking, with Peterson enumerating helpful criteria for how Christians in a food-obsessed culture might determine whether a particular food is worthy of eating. At times, her domestic opinions have the whiff of superiority, as when she speaks disapprovingly about microwaves and dishwashers, but these moments are far outweighed by the books well-researched and generous approach to domesticity. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ReviewIn this deeply theological, welcome book, Peterson (Sing Me to Heaven) argues in favor of the idea—no longer fashionable—that Christian service and spiritual growth are inherent in the acts of keeping people fed, clean, housed and comfortable. Housekeeping, she says, is akin to a litany, a long public prayer to announce needs and requests. A litany is repetitive and focused on the basics: food, health, shelter. Similarly, housework is ongoing and incarnational, teaching us about Jesus earthiness and decision to live among us; it requires perpetual tending, much like Gods active sustaining of the world. All the more is this so when our homes are not all we might wish them to be, Peterson points out. Gods world is not as he wishes it to be, either. Addressing such topics as laundry, cleaning, shopping and cooking, Peterson offers persuasive biblical interpretations and incisive theological and cultural commentary. The two chapters on food and its preparation are especially groundbreaking, with Peterson enumerating helpful criteria for how Christians in a food-obsessed culture might determine whether a particular food is worthy of eating. At times, her domestic opinions have the whiff of superiority, as when she speaks disapprovingly about microwaves and dishwashers, but these moments are far outweighed by the books well-researched and generous approach to domesticity. (Apr.) (Publishers Weekly, February 12, 2007)
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Asks and answers stimulating questions about why we do what we do
I read a lot of books, and few of them prompt immediate or tangible change in my life or environment. But Margaret Kim Peterson inspired me to make one specific adjustment to my home (and contemplate more). This morning, from a closet, I brought out a right-fine aunt-made quilt and placed it on my bed, replacing its overused, tattered, similarly vintaged cousin.
KEEPING HOUSE asks and answers stimulating questions about why we do what we do. An example: “Putting away things that get daily or weekly use is a way to exercise a kind of providential foresight…Having clothes ready to wear in the drawer or in the closet is part of creating an expectation that in this home we care for one another. Our needs are not a perpetual emergency but are anticipated and provided for ahead of time.”
A theology professor at Eastern University, Peterson has written a book for intelligent readers. On the other hand, as a church “theologian in residence,” she has written in a pastoral voice that is accessible to any reader. She has done a masterful job of encouraging anyone who has home-keeping responsibilities. She neither romanticizes domesticity (like Martha Stewart — aren’t we having fun?) nor denigrates it.
And her book isn’t a guilt trip. The burdened perfectionist? Peterson calmly convinces that “a well-kept house is a means to an end, not an end in itself.” Her target is “`good enough’ housekeeping.” The shopper who can’t manage purchased possessions? She digs deeper than what she calls the “secular gospel of decluttering”; ultimately there’s a gentleness in her nudge to control one’s habits and square-footage. Peterson, who shares a modest, two-bedroom house with a husband confined to a wheelchair and a son, writes: “Instead of nurturing dissatisfaction with the shortcomings of our present home…perhaps we can turn our energies toward receiving as gifts the homes we have and to creating in them enough order and tidiness to promote convenience and peace and hospitality.” There’s such grace in her words: “perhaps we can,” rather than “we should”; “enough order…to promote convenience.”
Sandwiched between an introductory chapter (”What’s Christian about Housework?”) and a closing summary, Peterson writes two chapters each on three aspects of keeping a household: sheltering, clothing and feeding. One chapter discusses the issue in terms of a noun — for example, “Clothes to Wear”; the subsequent chapter discusses the act of “Clothing a Household.” (It does seem that she rather glosses over the not-insignificant act of “cleaning a house.”)
In several chapters Peterson points out fallacies in some fantasies our culture promotes. I especially like the kitchen analysis: people buying better and bigger cookware and doo-dads while all the while cooking less frequently and complexly. “The fantasy of cooking is more visibly popular than cooking itself.”
Especially in terms of clothing and feeding, Peterson relies on liturgical themes, as suggested in the subtitle, “A Litany of Everyday Life.” The rhythm of the church calendar — the pattern of daily prayers and stretches of ordinary days punctuated by feast days both weekly (Sunday) and annually — mirrors our home making. “We fix lunch because it is lunchtime…We pack away coats and boots…because winter is over and summer is coming. As we engage with the litany of everyday life, we engage with life itself, with our fellow human beings, with the world in which God has set us all, and thus with God himself.”
I don’t think Margaret Kim Peterson quotes the following verse, but her writing warmly reminds me of an old favorite, in an old translation: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). Even, or especially, keeping house.
— Reviewed by Evelyn Bence
Every Christian Should Read This Book …
… but especially Christian women burdened with guilt because their domestic achievements fall short of the standards set by most popular Christian homemaking books that come close to making an idol of domesticity. I won’t offer my thoughts on the details of Peterson’s book because more eloquent and insightful reviewers have already shared theirs. I will just say that if you are weary of pursuing the ever elusive “perfect Christian home” then you need to read this book. You will find heart-lightening grace and gentle encouragement here with a refreshing refocus on what our homes are supposed to be all about: loving God and loving the precious souls He brings into our lives.
Beautiful and Insightful Writing
I have degrees in both philosophy and law but have chosen to be a stay at home mother and house keeper. This book captures the essence of that role and should be read by everyone who has (or will have) the main responsibility for caring for a home. This book provides wonderful reasoning on the honor of domestic duties and how the ministry of house keeping has profound spiritual and emotional impacts. I periodically return to this book to refresh my focus. Bless Ms. Peterson for writing this wonderful book. If I don’t get to meet her in this life, I hope I will in the next so that I can thank her for writing this book.
Refreshing, hopeful, transformative
As I read this book, I found myself thinking about the gift of home in a whole new way. I was able to see that the basic tasks of maintaining a home–the dishes, the laundry, the cooking–these simple acts can take on a sacramental quality when they are infused with love.
I loved Margaret Kim Peterson’s tone–she writes with humility (she’s quick to admit that cleaning is not her forte) and yet she is full of wisdom about the value of keeping a home. She believes that those who do it with care are imitating God, because in the Scriptures He is always sheltering, feeding, and clothing his people. She believes that God is the ultimate home-maker.
I think about “Keeping House” as I wash the dishes and fold the clothes–my house has been cleaner and more orderly, better meals on the table, ever since I read this book. It helped me to realize how valuable these little things are, how we cheat ourselves and those we live with when we neglect them. I was especially intrigued by her chapter on food. This line stays with me: “Whatever we eat, we need to consider where it comes from, and how the animals–and people–involved in its production were treated. Could we look them in the eye and say thank you without feeling ashamed?”
Margaret Kim Peterson recognizes what a struggle home can be, and how many of us take a long time to develop routines that work. She writes, “If we persevere in our domestic liturgies we will figure them out too. There is no substitute for simply entering into the tasks involved in making a home…The work itself will shape us as we discover what it requires of us and what rewards it returns.”
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