Next to Godliness: Finding the Sacred in Housekeeping

Named to the 2007 "Top 10 Spiritual Summer Reading List" by the Detroit Free Press

Explore the place where clean and holy meet—and chart a new course toward discovering sanctity.

"I've always sought solace in cleaning…. As my husband and I packed up our apartment and cleaned the profound dust of the Twin Towers from our books and pillows, we used this shared ritual as an opportunity to reflect and heal. As my neighbor once said, 'Cleaning house is my church.'"
-from the Introduction

Be they our kitchens after a meal or our communities after a crisis, we all face the times—and opportunities—when we must clean up. Through a beautiful, diverse and eclectic array of personal narratives, fiction, sacred texts and verse, this inspiring book offers new perspectives on the unique ways we can reach out for the Divine within the simple acts of washing the dishes, doing the laundry, making a home and more. Giving the process of cleaning house depth and resonance, these writings will speak to your heart and allow you to see beyond the task at hand and into a greater undertaking—to realize the sacred in all that we do.

From sweeping the home, to organizing the office, to cleaning up the more daunting "Big Messes" in our communities, this engaging book touches upon every facet of our lives.

Contributors include:

Gaston BachelardGwendolyn BrooksJoan ChittisterBilly CollinsJohn CrawfordMahatma GandhiAllen GinsbergThich Nhat HanhNathaniel HawthorneHomerMartin Luther King, Jr.Cheryl MendelsonPablo NerudaKathleen NorrisLouise RafkinOtagaki RengetsuMarilynne RobinsonRumiStarhawk

"Lovely…. Articulates what many women know but hesitate to admit: housekeeping has a unique spiritual quality, if only we will tap into it. Simply read and enjoy whenever you need to find the sacred in housekeeping once again."
-Marcia Ford, author of Finding Hope: Cultivating God's Gift of a Hopeful Spirit

Alice Peck is an innovative editor and writer who serves as a consultant to many published authors and produced screenwriters. She has spent years writing, developing and acquiring material for broadcast and cable television as well as feature films.