Welcome to Spirit Wednesday where we take a look at all things spiritual from meditation to prayer to cleaning the house. Yes, even house work can be a spiritual experience… if you choose to see it that way.

For the last week our sewer lines have been backing up whenever we use water, be it a toilet flush, a mini load of laundry or a shower. We’ve been reduced to begging to use someone else’s washer and taking showers that amount to spit baths.

I could complain, but I’m not. Bailing out the tub every night so my daughter’s bath routine remains, more or less, intact takes its toll on my bad back, but I actually enjoy it.

I suppose that sounds wierd. Let me try to explain. As I bail the water into the large bucket and toss the used liquid into the yard, I think about our ancestors who had to do this all the time. They didn’t have faucets or drains. If they wanted hot water it had to be heated by fire. Entire families would use a single bath to get clean, starting with the babies and ending with the men.

As for toilets, a bush was your best friend. Later came outhouses. The closest I’ve come to that is a port-a-potty, which I think most of us will agree are to be avoided except in cases of extreme desparation.

Anyway, I’ve discovered a peace from bailing bath water, a connection to our collective past and to those who still do not have our society’s advantages. I am thankful for what I have even when it means I must be slightly inconvienced.

When have you found a way to accept, if not enjoyed, an inconvience?