Maggie's Farm

Re: clean up your room. Peterson’s point cd be read as a variant on “ first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye” Perhaps some fatherless young men and many of the older generation fed up with stupid PC ideology love a benevolent transference object laying down the law: “young man, clean up your room right now!”. For good reasons, military and police recruits and boarding school students are forced to keep immaculate rooms—it promotes mental discipline and self respect. Order amidst our cultural chaos.

However, it also ignores what most believers know all too well: that we are still miserable and wicked sinners. Redeemed, but unable to Keep from sinning and failing until we rest w God.

Also, Peterson’s nagging means different things to different audiences. For example, many women would hear it as a badgering to go back to keeping house for everyone on top of all our other responsibilities at work and for our kids and elderly relatives.

Further, for those of us who had actual loving, but fallible, fathers who were overly strict? “Clean up” reminds me of my own Naval officer dad grimly warning three, five and six year olds “white glove inspection“(eliciting terror in the household) .

Furthermore, sometimes, for adults, there are things to do that supersede cleaning up your room. See The Gospel of Luke
“57And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

So, I had very clean rooms when an at home mommy, but when there were more important things in the outside world, not so much. One might use this as a metaphor for work and tending one’s personal stuff: most people with traditional values would agree that duties to God, country, family should always supersede those to household and self. No one ever died sighing “I wish I had had more “me” time or spent more time at the gym or tidied up my room better!”