Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life - Softcover

Peterson, Margaret Kim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1118782003 ISBN 13: 9781118782002

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2007

Synopsis

Keeping House is a wide-ranging and witty exploration of the spiritual gifts that are gained when we take the time to care for hearth and home. With a fresh perspective, mother, wife, and teacher Margaret Kim Peterson examines the activities and attitudes of keeping house and making a home. Debunking the commonly held notion that keeping house is a waste of time or at best a hobby, Peterson uncovers the broader cultural and theological factors that make housekeeping an interesting and worthwhile discipline. She reveals how the seemingly ordinary tasks of folding laundry, buying groceries, cooking, making beds, and offering hospitality can be seen as spiritual practices that embody and express concrete and positive ways of living out Christian faith in relationship to others at home, in the church and in the world.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Praise for Keeping House

"Addressing such topics as laundry, cleaning, shopping, and cooking, Peterson offers persuasive biblical interpretations and incisive theological and culutural commentary."
―Publishers Weekly

"Keeping House is ground-breaking and breath-taking―the former because there is nothing quite like a 'theology of housekeeping' that is both theologically sophisticated and experientially based. It is breath-taking because of the depth and profundity of Margaret Kim Peterson's insights . . . . My skepticism of the topic gave way, within two pages, to admiration. Every pastor needs to preach the theology of this book and every housekeeper will find daily gold."
―Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University; and author, The Real Mary and The Jesus Creed

"Mom taught us how to keep house; Margaret Kim Peterson tells us why. Without glorifying menial tasks or patronizing those who do them, Peterson sets housework in a biblical and theological framework that reveals the eternal significance of feeding, clothing, and sheltering others."
―LaVonne Neff, author, 2007: A Book of Grace-Filled Days

"For many years I have appreciated Margaret's insights and reflections about theology and life. In this book she brings her heart and mind to bear on the subject of housekeeping. The result is a practical and loving look at a routine and demanding practice that can lead―believe it or not―to contemplation of God."
―Adele Calhoun, pastor of spiritual formation, Christ Church of Oak Brook, Oak Brook, Illinois; and author, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

From the Inside Flap:

"Keeping house can be a very mundane activity. It is certainly repetitive, and the kinds of work that it involves are varied enough that few people enjoy all of them equally. But at the very same time, housekeeping is about practicing sacred disciplines and creating sacred space, for the sake of Christ as we encounter him in our fellow household members and in neighbors, strangers, and guests."
—From the Preface

Keeping House is a wide-ranging and witty exploration of the spiritual gifts that are gained when we take the time to care for hearth and home. With a fresh perspective, mother, wife, and teacher Margaret Kim Peterson examines the activities and attitudes of keeping house and making a home. Debunking the commonly held notion that keeping house is a waste of time or at best a hobby, Peterson uncovers the broader cultural and theological factors that make housekeeping an interesting and worthwhile discipline. She reveals how the seemingly ordinary tasks of folding laundry, buying groceries, cooking, making beds, and offering hospitality can be seen as spiritual practices that embody and express concrete and positive ways of living out Christian faith in relationship to others at home, in the church, and in the world.

Filled with thoughtful reflection and lively anecdotes, Keeping House clearly shows that housekeeping is neither a trivial matter nor simply drudgery. People need to eat, to sleep, to have clothes to wear; they need a place to play, a place into which to welcome guests and from which to go forth into the world. When we are keeping house, we are truly keeping faith.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1118782003
• ISBN 13: 9781118782002
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192