Dishwashers are a good thing.

On most Monday mornings for the past five years I’ve met with a friend from the local Catholic parish in our living room at the parsonage. Conversations with Betty are about all things spiritual and we often include periods of silence, prayer, laughter, sharing and debate. It is a great way to start the week. It is a relationship in which we hold each other accountable to what God is teaching us and a relationship where we encourage growth in each of our lives. Each Monday morning is different and each is a blessing. I am thankful for Betty’s friendship.

This morning Betty and I started our time together with silence. I was exhausted from a busy week and an even busier weekend. Before Betty arrived, I loaded the dishwasher with the third load of dishes from Sunday evening and turned it on. As Betty and I settled into silence to begin our time together, I was distracted by the soft, swishing of the dishwasher and angry with myself for not waiting until Betty left before starting the dishwasher. I did not want to interrupt the silence to get up and turn it off.

In those moments of distraction, God spoke. Instead of the distraction, I saw the purpose of the dishwasher. A valuable machine to help me start all over again. Just like my dishes, I am often dirty and unusable, and just like my dishes, I have the opportunity each day to be washed and cleaned. And just like my dishes, I am useable once again and valuable to the world in which I live. And just like my dishes, I can be a vessel for what God needs dished up in our world to nourish it, to treat it, to satisfy its longings and desires.

I get tired of dirty dishes. Sometimes on a busy day, I run four loads in the dishwasher and the end never seems to come. It is much like life. I get tired and overwhelmed with the mountain of work to be done to build community, to help and support institutions, to meet the needs of individuals I love and individuals God has placed in my life.

I do not have much of a choice about doing dishes. It is just something that has to be done to live a healthy good life. The good thing with dishes is that I start over again each day. They are cleaned and sterilized with each washing and I don’t have to do them all at once. I do one load at a time and I depend on the dishwasher to help me not feel so overwhelmed.

From now on, I’m going to use the dishwasher each time I run it to remind me of an opportunity I have every day to start over again. I don‘t have to do and be everything to everyone all the time, but I can do what I am able and do one thing at a time. As my dishwasher washes my dishes clean, I will say a prayer for God to wash me clean and to restore my strength to be a clean, usable vessel for God’s use one more day. It is good to be distracted sometimes………