The Mission of Our Menial Tasks

Charisse Tierney considers our tendency to think that the work we're doing within our own family and community is not enough in the scheme of things.

Sometimes, after a day (or several days) of juggling the laundry, planning meals, cleaning up messes, helping my aging parents and handicapped sister, and stealing moments to reconnect with my husband, I catch a glimpse of a news story. Maybe it’s a natural disaster on the other side of the globe, or a local family enduring a tragic loss, or a mishap induced by humanity that results in great need.

And I feel … selfish. My dirty floors, hungry mouths to feed, and piles of laundry suddenly feel so small. Like tiny blips that are unworthy of the stress and energy I use to address them.  

We all feel pulled to do something great that will leave our mark on the world. Whether this is a strong drive that manifests itself in our daily lives or a hidden seed lying dormant in our souls, it is there. We were each created to share the beauty of the divine with the world in our own unique way.  

But then we find ourselves caught up in our own little worlds and wonder if we’ve missed the mark. We wonder if we’re so focused on our own family’s needs that we are ignoring a calling to spread our tendrils out into the world-to be a light beyond the walls of our own home. To perform works that seem more worthy of being called “mission.”

And yet, like the sacredly mysterious existence of the ancient anchorite or the modern cloistered nun, the family is in a unique position to simultaneously withdraw from the world while blessing it. 

My handicapped sister recently moved in with us. After a few years of not having babies or toddlers in our household, this change has brought reminders of those early days of parenting. Reminders of those survival-mode seasons when mornings are spent feeding, dressing, cleaning, and backpack prepping until you open the door to get everyone on their way and realize you hadn’t even noticed that the sun was shining. Reminders of evenings filled with meal prep, laundry, bathing, and tidying until you pause to read a bedtime story and realize it’s the first time you’ve looked your 5-year-old in the eyes since dinner. 

And you think that someday, all of these trivial daily tasks will disappear. That as your children add years, the seemingly menial routines will subtract, and your real mission in life can begin.  

But my sister has taught me that washing the face that brightens the world with its smile, packing the backpack that is carried by someone who can soften the hardest heart, and tidying the room of a person who brings righteous order to this chaotic world is what real mission is all about. 

I do have more time now that my children are older to get out in the world and follow my passions and share my gifts. But I am blessed to have my sister in my life to remind me our light can be shared with the world just as ubiquitously from within the walls of our own home. It is mission indeed to nourish and care for these tendrils of ours that can touch the world in ways we often don’t see.   

It is mission to inspire the contagious smile of my sister … and know that she is the one leaving a big, beautiful mark on the world. 

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Copyright 2024 Charisse Tierney
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