The best laundry story I ever heard is from my sister-in-law, a professional who had a life changing religious experience, not while at work or worship, but while folding laundry. Each item here is something she's washed and folded many times-- socks, towels, nightgown, T-shirt, etc. This laundry is fresh and warm, loosely piled, not sorted or fretted over, but just being what it is.
A lectionary of sorts developed with several verses for each piece. Biblical imagery for washing is, of course, plentiful—think of stain removers, softeners, being enfolded. Using scripture in such an allegorical way may turn it into a laundry list, but it also gives meaning to that domestic chore that is ever-present. A Zen expression says it well: “After enlightenment, the laundry.” Here’s a few entries from the Laundry Lectionary:
For an old bath towel: Acts 10:15 “…what God has cleansed, you must not call common.”
For jogging shorts: Psalm 119:32 “I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart.”
For tennis socks: Micah 6:8 “…and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
For a dishtowel: 2 Kings 21:13 “….I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.”
For a nightgown: Psalm 121:4 “Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."
For a wildflower design T-shirt: Matthew 6:28-29 “And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”
For a napkin edged in lace: Psalm 23:5 “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies…”
For a bandana: Proverbs 3:21-22 “…keep sound wisdom and prudence, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.”
