IS Cleanliness Next to Godliness?

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

They say that cleanliness is loved by God
And so I clean, with duty as my guide,
and obligation. Yet, when I behold
these sparkling baseboards — have I sinned in pride?

Debased (and bored) I scrub, and scrub, and scrub
Martyr to my ceramic-tiled hall
On which my children run with sullied feet
While leaving grubby handprints on the wall.

I pray I go to heaven long before
My children come a-knocking on God’s door
A brief respite, that’s all I ask of Him:
Self-cleaning carpet, and self-mopping floor.

Surely I won’t cry out in prideful sin —
“They’re filthy, God! How can you let them in?”

Copyright 2001–2020 Holly Jahangiri.