Washing the Dishes
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” — John 13:14 (NRSVUE)
Someone once thanked Dorothy Day for all she had done. She started the Catholic Worker Movement during the Great Depression. She spoke out against both capitalism and communism. She marched with workers, went to jail for peace, wrote books, edited a newspaper, and inspired generations of Christians to see Christ in the poor.
Dorothy listened politely. Then she said something like, “I’ve spent most of my life washing dishes.”
I’m not sure if she meant it literally, but I think she did. The houses of hospitality she started fed thousands of people. Meals were made every day. Pots needed scrubbing. Tables were wiped. Floors were swept. The work never stopped. Neither did the dishes.
The world doesn’t stay together because of big, extraordinary moments. It stays together because of ordinary acts done again and again. Someone washes the dishes. Someone folds the laundry. Someone weeds the garden. Someone makes another meal. Someone answers a late-night call. Someone sits by a hospital bed. Someone welcomes a stranger at the door. Most of this work never makes the news. But without it, civilization falls apart.
When Jesus wanted to show his disciples what God’s love looked like, he didn’t organize a rally or give a speech about leadership. He put a towel around his waist, filled a basin with water, and knelt on the floor. The miracle was that he believed love could be revealed through something so ordinary.
Maybe we have the wrong idea about how to change the world. We’re taught that history changes because of speeches, elections, inventions, and revolutions. Sometimes that’s true. Dorothy was certainly a revolutionary in her own right.
But more often, things change because someone keeps showing up. The teacher who prepares one more lesson. The hospice volunteer who sits quietly by another bed. The farmer who cares for the soil through another season. The parent who packs another lunch. The neighbor who checks on the widower across the street. The volunteer who makes coffee before anyone else arrives. The person who stays after the meeting to wash the dishes.
As I get older, I care less about the idea of heroes. Heroes can inspire us, but they rarely us going.
Communities last because people learn to value repetition. That might be one of the deepest spiritual practices. It means believing that today’s ordinary act of care matters, even if no one sees it.
Dorothy Day understood that movements aren’t built just by extraordinary people doing big things. They’re also built by ordinary people who keep on loving. One meal. One guest. One conversation. One sink full of dishes at a time.
Tomorrow morning, the dishes will be there again. Love, it turns out, is rarely finished. It simply waits patiently for us to begin again.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
What are the “dishes” in your own life, the ordinary acts of care that no one applauds, yet others depend upon?
When have you been tempted to believe that only the big, visible work matters?
Who quietly sustains your community through faithfulness that often goes unnoticed? Have you ever thanked them?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For The Ordinary Work
God of basins and towels, You entered the world not seeking a throne, but kneeling beside ordinary people. Thank you for those whose faithfulness rarely makes headlines. For those who prepare the meals. Answer the phones. Fold the laundry. Visit the sick. Welcome the stranger. Wash the dishes. When we grow weary of work that must be done again tomorrow, remind us that love is rarely finished. It simply returns. May our ordinary acts of care become quiet signs of your presence in a world hungry for kindness. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Leave One Dish
After your next meal, leave one dish in the sink. Don’t wash it immediately. Pause for a moment and simply look at it.
Then ask yourself: Who has been quietly “washing the dishes” in my life?
Maybe it is someone in your family. A colleague. A volunteer. A caregiver. A friend who always checks in.
Before the day ends, thank them for returning, day after day, to the ordinary work that makes everyone else’s life possible.
Then go back and wash the dish, with gratitude.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
July 28 - September 1, 2026, 12:30-1:30pmET - Book Club in The Commons - FREE - We are reading our next book, “I Eat The Stars” by Sarah Wilson. We will meet each Tuesday for 6 weeks. It’s such great fun. I hope you will be a part. All are welcome! RSVP HERE.
September 8, 2026, 7-9pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - I’ll be hosting a powerful online gathering on The Black Madonna: Sacred Wisdom for a World in Crisis with Matthew Fox, Alessandra Belloni, and Christena Cleveland. We will explore the Black Madonna as a symbol of resilience, liberation, sacred feminine wisdom, and healing in a fractured world through conversation, story, music, and spiritual reflection. If you feel drawn toward a deeper encounter with the Divine Feminine and the ancient traditions that continue to nourish movements for justice and wholeness, I hope you’ll join us. Learn more and REGISTER HERE.
October 6, 2026 - 7-8:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - Matthew Fox and I are teaming up again to launch a series called Journeying with the Mystics. The mystics have always emerged in times of uncertainty. They appear when old certainties are crumbling, when institutions no longer provide easy answers, and when people find themselves longing for a deeper experience of the Sacred. Join us for an 18-session exploration of the teachings of St. John of the Cross, Thomas Merton, Hildegard of Bingen, Kabir and Rumi, Meister Eckhart and more. This is more than a lecture series. It is an invitation into a living spiritual journey. REGISTRATION COMING SOON!
October 18-21, 2026 - PREACH! 2026 Conference- I’ll be co-hosting PREACH in Minneapolis with Church Anew, a new gathering for preachers, storytellers, worship leaders, and spiritual communicators navigating what it means to speak with clarity, compassion, and courage in a changing world. If you’ve sensed that the preaching moment has changed and are longing for thoughtful community and renewed imagination for this work, I hope you’ll join us.
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
July 23, 2026, 2-3:00pm ET, Join Rev. Lisa Bryant for a six-session community of practice called “Imagining God with Julian of Norwich” inspired by Julian of Norwich’s The Showings, in Mirabai Starr’s vivid and accessible translation. Together, we will encounter Julian’s remarkable vision of divine love and explore what her wisdom might awaken in our own lives, spiritual practices, and understanding of God. You can learn more and sign up here.
July 29, 2026, 12pm ET - ONLINE WRITING GROUP - My dear friend, Meryl Marshall-Daniels, is leading a writing group open to all. This is a simple and spacious writing circle for people who want time to listen inwardly and put words on the page without overthinking, performing, or polishing. Meryl offers a prompt designed to invite reflection, imagination, and attunement to what is already alive within you. The practice honors writing as a way of listening, of letting images, memories, questions, and insights surface in their own time. Learn more here.
My friends over at Spiritual Wanderlust have some of the coolest classes. One I am particularly drawn to is their Celtic Spirituality School where you get to learn from people like John Philip Newell, Ilia Delio, Carl McColman, Sharon Blackie, and more. Read more about their program.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
Thank you, Rev. Cameron. In his Rule, Saint Benedict writes that the Cellarer will handle all utensils of the monastery as if they are "sacred vessels." Let us be mindful to treat everything we pick up or put down as a sacred vessel. Dorothy Day, a Benedictine Oblate, imbued her hands in the sacred act of dishwashing.
Yes, doing small things with great love as Mother Teresa said. This is freeing for me. Now that I am retired I fall into the trap of thinking I should be doing MORE and MORE. Maybe I need to find peace in the small offerings I give daily.