Spiritual News of Note - I Ironed Yesterday
May 23rd, 2007 at 7:00 am by Dee O'Neil Andrews
Ironing is an humble task. I learned to iron from my mother.
I used to do it all of the time. I ironed at least once a week for a long time starching and pressing Tom's white dress shirts for work because he wears a suit every day to work most of the time. He needs dress shirts and he's always liked the way I ironed them with light starch much better than any of the cleaners can do.
And I liked doing it.
Well - like is not really the word, but I never minded doing the ironing. You know why? Because I felt I was being of service in a way that only I could do for him. My beloved husband.
Since we moved up to Picayune a year ago and into this little apartment, it got to be too much because the only place I have to iron here is upstairs in our bedroom and if you remember, I was still totally off my feet from my broken left foot when we moved here. I really couldn't iron.
So I've been taking Tom's shirts to the cleaners about once a week ever since to be laundered, starched and ironed. They don't do a bad job. Just not as well as I would do them because I love Tom and want to do the best job I can do on them for him. He deserves it because he works very hard and long hours many times and it has always seemed to be the least that I could do.
Plus, I spend that time thinking, mostly praying and meditating. Ironing is a physical task that doesn't really engage the mind. Which is good. I need to take the time to think, pray and meditate.
When I worked I did those things in the car on the way to work every morning for an hour (to west of New Orleans from Slidell, Louisiana) and on the way home again at night. I didn't iron then because I was either working all of the time or on the road back and forth to work in New Orleans.
It was a different life entirely.
But then - maybe not. It's just that the pay and the rewards are different. Work is work and ironing has its place, although I don't think hardly anyone does it any more. A lot of people I know don't even own an iron, which I find shocking.
Am I old and don't know it?
I happen to love men in suits and dressed up, too, as Tom does every day. He looks fantastic. I know men wearing suits has gone by the wayside, too, in many quarters and I think that's really too bad.
Those were some of the things I was meditating on while I ironed and prayed. The reverence with which I go about my tasks here around home, humble though they be. And the reverence (I think) men show to God (and women, too) when they dress up at least sometimes out of respect.
We went to a wake (family visitation and viewing because of a death) Sunday afternoon over in New Orleans and Tom wore a suit. It was the right thing - the only thing - he could have done. Should have done. Would have done.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think there is spiritual service in things such as ironing and wearing suits - dressing up and looking your best. Think about these things. They aren't earth shattering, but I think important to consider.
In the meantime - cheers & blessings to you all today! Dee
Morning Dee,
I remember as a kid , my ganny ironing her son’s shirts and even his undershorts,
I don’t own a iron,:?
Looks like I’ll be wearing a tie this Sunday.
I like to dress up..sometimes. My husband is great with an iron…I am mediocre at best….my goal is to knock out the big wrinkles…I never really learned how to do collars…and that is OK with me.
I admit to having a bad attitude when it comes to ironing. I should be ironing right now, in fact. My husband wears dress shirts to work every day, so I’ve tried to get himto wear the no-iron shirts. He feels they still need a “running over” with the iron before wearing. I will say if there’s a certain shirt he wants to wear on a certain day (usually tomorrow!), he will wash and iron it himself, so I really can’t complain. He also looks great in them. Taking it to the cleaners is not an option where we live now. I took them once, and they came back with some little brown spots on them. Has anyone ever used one of those steam presses, similar to what the cleaners use? I have thought about getting one to make it quicker. Right now my strategy is to set it up so I can watch a movie while I iron - that’s helped somewhat.
I will also admit to liking the feel of ironed 100% cotton myself!
I still own and use an iron. I cannot stand wrinkles in our clothes. I guess that comes from the days of starching sprinkling and rolling up the clothes to achieve the right degree of dampness then literally ironing–not pressing– clothes. A good steam iron achieves the same thing today. The dress shirts go to the cleaners because I don’t do starch, though I, like you Dee, do them much better than the cleaners. My daughter thinks I’m crazy. If a business person has on wrinkled clothes, they just don’t look professional. There is a line between business/dress and sports/casual clothes.
Ironing is one of my least favorite chores, when I’m doing it for myself. However, when I’m ironing for someone I love, then it becomes a pleasure. Funny how many acts of service are actually pleasant when we’re doing it for someone we love.
I as did like a sharp dress man, but I married a farm boy, who won’t ware suit and tie.
for ten of the 18 years that I worked out, I was a presser for Lee jeans and I loved it! I guess you could say the presses that I used were over grown iron’s
those were good days!
Having finally reached a point about two years ago that I no longer had to wear a suit or even a tie when I preached, I’m entering a field of employment where I’ll have to wear a tie every day and a suit many days. I’ve never worn a suit to the church office in 30 years of preaching. I’m a jeans and shirt guy … take it or leave it.
I can remember the old coke bottles with a stopper in it that had an aluminum top filled with holes for sprinkling water on an item to be ironed. I iron all my clothes, but nobody could iron a shirt like my mama. Except maybe you, Dee.
Dee,
I had to master ironing while in the army. Our uniform had to be crisply pressed. So, I’m the resident “ironer” (if Bush can be the decider, I can be the ironer) in our house. My youngest son (now 14) still loves it when I iron his shirt and hand it to him while it’s still warm. He wraps up in it and smiles. That’s a good trade off–I get the pleasure of his reaction and all I have to do is chase away a few wrinkles. And there’s something about the smell of freshly washed clothes under the heat of the iron, especially when mixed with the scent of starch, that is comforting in the way the odor of fresh bread is comforting.
Ben
I iron Ned’s shirts too. Sometimes it is a chore because I make it so. I love him and I think he looks amazing in a crisp shirt. I agree that works of service and giving our best are part of our spiritual walk.
Have a wonderful day—hope you got all the wrinkles ironed out.
Peace
Neva
I don’t like ironing… I LOVE to iron. Not only the fragrance, as Ben mentioned, but there is something truly great about the accomplishment of finishing. Starting out with a wrinkly, wadded garment and finishing with a crisp, fresh-smelling garment that is nice to wear.
Why it is different from cleaning house, I don’t know. It just is.
My ironing story.
Sunday morning we were running late so all seven of us made a mad dash for the Surburban but once we got to the building I saw my 13 year old son for the first time that morning. He had grabbed clothes from his drawer and thrown them on and looked like he had just climbed out from underneath a rock. I was so embarrassed and sadly his hair matched his clothes. It was sticking straight up and out. I was glad when he sat with the youth group. Atleast the visitors didn’t know he was mine
I was just waiting for someone to offer me their iron.