Hospitality has been woven into our story, my story, almost since the beginning. I am the most recent in a long line of wanderers, people looking for a new home.
Our stories tell us we are refugees, strangers, and immigrants. No matter which countries and spiritual traditions we claim, they are stronger because of people from somewhere else.
Our heritage is flavored with spices from around the world.
Hospitality is more, and more significant, than being friendly. Hospitality is how we share ourselves with other people. We need to know ourselves intimately before we are able to share ourselves with others.
When we can see ourselves more clearly, we are better able to find ourselves in others. Hospitality is a demonstration of our empathy, our connection, what we share with others. It is a recognition that we owe what we have to the generosity of people we have never met. As we live because of hospitality generations ago, our hospitality has future implications.
Our impression of generosity is that it is about being nice and kind, a little soft. In fact, our decisions about when and how we practice hospitality are coldly real.
It is embarrassingly easy for us to decide we need something more, something new. We are far more likely to appreciate what we need, or want, than what other people need. Our perception is we need more storage, a larger home, a new car, more groceries. It is easy for us to ignore what people around us need to survive. We forget how immediately connected we are to people around the world.
Hospitality is a matter of life and death.
When will we practice hospitality today?
How will our hospitality this week shape the lives of people who have not yet been born?
[Image by Cuyahoga jco]
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