Sometimes, I am surprised when others are surprised that I like to wash dishes, as I did last Wednesday for our trial dinner in anticipation of our upcoming dinner/program series. I especially like using the industrial dishwasher. I kind of wish we had one at home! When I was a kid, I hated washing dishes. I was annoyed that our house didn’t have a dishwasher, and it seemed like an imposition of the highest order to have to stand at that sink and do it all – BY HAND! In time, however, it transformed into something I don’t really dislike. It may not be my activity of choice or even near the top of the list, but it’s enjoyable on some level when I am washing dishes.Some tasks are just like that. If a job needs doing, I’m generally happy to do it – within reason. I don’t dread doing dishes, ironing clothes, changing the oil in our cars, or any number of things. Now, some of that is what comes with maturity and adulthood. I roll my eyes at my kids the way my parents rolled their eyes at me whenever I complained about doing chores. But as I think about chores that I enjoy, they seem to have one thing in common: they are hands-on. Like when I realized I like cutting the grass – hands on. With those sorts of chores, you can see what you’ve done when you’re finished.I’ve probably rambled about this before, but ministry is one of those vocations that can be difficult to measure. A lot of what priests do doesn’t lead to a stack of finished products or a clear line between before and after. Sure, there are things we can see and hear in response to what our day looks like, but it’s nothing like the satisfaction that can come from filling up a 52-foot trailer with neat walls of boxes and realizing what we’ve accomplished. I’m not complaining – I love being a priest. I’m just noting the lack of a clear work product explains why so many clergy have hands-on hobbies.I’m not sharing this as a back-handed way to seek affirmation. My vocation is not the only one that can be hard to measure in this way. Some careers involve important work that is “on paper.” Others might set the stage for an outcome we may never see, like certain kinds of law. We do all sorts of things that don’t have a clear and satisfying conclusion. That’s just the way it is. However, we should never feel our efforts are in vain, even when we don’t have a tangible representation of our blood, sweat, and tears.

Nonetheless, it’s always fascinating to hear someone say, “Oh, I built that house,” or “I wrote this book.” To be able to point at something in its three-dimensional form just amazes me some days. The truth is, however, that even the tangible things matter because of the intangible realities that go with them. The house becomes a home in which a family raises its children. A book is a doorway through which we dream dreams or learn new things. At the end of the day, we’re all laboring for the intangible parts of life that make meaning and give us a sense that we’re using God’s gifts in a way that hopefully makes God smile. I like to think I do all sorts of those things regularly – or at least try to. Sometimes, it’s a gradual process that can take years to unfold, like when I marry a couple, later baptize their children, and then later still sit with them when a parent dies. And sometimes, it’s as simple as putting on a rubber apron and making those dishes sparkle again, admiring the stack when I’m finished. Both are building God’s kingdom in their own way.Tom+O heavenly Father, who hast filled the world with beauty:Open our eyes to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works;that, rejoicing in thy whole creation, we may learn to servethee with gladness; for the sake of him through whom allthings were made, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Photo Credit: dishes and architectural sketch via dreamstime.com subscription.