My first spiritual director used to impress on me the importance of “purity of intention.” I wasn’t exactly sure what he was driving at. But the inkling of an answer dawns when I hear Jesus describe that at the coming of the Son of Man “one will be taken, the other left.” It seems that it doesn’t so much matter what you do as why you do it. Our one desire and choice should always and only be to follow the will of God. If we have that as our intention — as near as we can discern in our own prayer — then what we are doing is filled with the presence of God, even if it is something as simple as grinding meal.
