The spiritual side of the physical world

Before I heard Gretchen Rubin articulate how outer order contributes to inner calm, before Marie Kondo shared her wisdom that tidying can have magical effects on helping us achieve our desired lives, and before Jordan Peterson admonished us to clean up our damn rooms (as an antidote to the chaos of the world), I had an experience where the quiet voice of intuition encouraged me to face my young sense of overwhelm by cleaning my family’s kitchen.

We lived in a two bedroom apartment on lower Lonsdale in North Vancouver. At its peak capacity, our dear home, the first property my mother owned, housed 7 humans, two dogs and one fetus (since my cousin was pregnant.) It was challenging to maintain order in such an environment. One day, I was feeling a deep desire to connect on a spiritual level with the greater world. I wanted to have an impact. And a clear voice directed me to start by cleaning the kitchen. That was how I could manifest in the physical world my spiritual desire to build up, to help, to relieve suffering.

The great Florence Nightingale changed the course of modern medicine in part by establishing proper hygiene methods and protocols while she served soldiers in the Crimean War. Her ministry was life saving in its simplicity; by properly cleaning wounds, instruments and bedding, she saved lives.

Suggested Meditation:

A verse in the Book of Mormon states that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

What small and simple steps can I take today?

How does my physical experience illuminate spiritual truths?

How do my spiritual experiences help me to be more competent in the physical realm of my life?