When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.” The house of Israel called it manna…
Interruption or opportunity?
How do you handle the tension between things that interrupt your schedule and the fact that interruptions are frequently opportunities for hospitality?
A bit of the story of Ruth.
“Ruth was a Moabite girl who married into a family of Israelite transplants living in Moab because there was a famine going on at home. When her young husband died, her mother-in-law, Naomi, decided to pull up stakes and head back for Israel where she belonged…She advised Ruth to stay put right there in Moab and to try to snag herself another man from among her own people….Ruth had a spring in her step and a fascinating Moabite accent, and…
Side by side.
You have come from afar and waited long and are wearied: Let us sit side by side sharing the same bread drawn from the same source to quiet the same hunger that makes us weak. Then standing together let us share the same spirit, the same thoughts that once again draw us together in friendship and unity and peace. Prieres d’Ozawamick, Native American
Ruth
Our scripture this Sunday will be Ruth 1:15-18.
Toward Sunday.
We continue our worship series on Hospitality this week by reflecting more deeply on dynamics of power and vulnerability intrinsic to the practice of hospitality. Dr. Steed Davidson will be preaching at The Table this Sunday. Read a bit more about him here. Christine Pohl writes, “When we offer hospitality, our faults as well as our possessions are open to scrutiny. If we need to hide either, we are unlikely to offer much hospitality. Hospitality to strangers . .…
Offering Hospitality.
When we offer hospitality to strangers, we welcome them into a place to which we are somehow connected – a space that has meaning and value to us. This is often our home, but it also includes church, community, nation, and various other institutions. In hospitality, the stranger is welcomed into a safe, personal, and comfortable place, a place of respect and acceptance and friendship. From the introduction to Making Room by Christine Pohl, p 13.
Strangers
Strangers, in the strict sense, are those who are disconnected from basic relationships that give persons a secure place in the world. The most vulnerable strangers are detached from family, community, church, work, and polity. From the introduction to Making Room by Christine Pohl, pg. 13 What is your definition of stranger?
Toward Sunday.
This week we continue our worship series on Hospitality by reflecting more deeply on what it means to be a stranger and to welcome strangers. Susan Goodman, our summer intern will be back for a short visit and will witness to her own experience of hospitality. Christine Pohl writes, “Sometimes we describe our nation as a society of relative strangers – millions of people minimally attached to our home and community, highly mobile, independently pursuing our…
Old understanding or new practice?
John Chrysostom, a church leader from the fourth and early fifth centuries insisted that hospitality should be: 1. Face to Face 2. Gracious 3. Unassuming 4. Nearly indiscriminate 5. Alway enthusiastic How does his description fit with your understanding of hospitality? How might you consider putting just one of these characteristics into play this week? (from Making Room, by Christine D. Pohl, p. 6)
Pillars.
“In ancient times, hospitality was viewed as a pillar on which the moral structure of the world rested. It included welcoming strangers into the home and offering them food, shelter, and protection. Providing hospitality also involved recognizing the stranger’s worth and common humanity.” (from the Making Room study guide by Christine Pohl & Pamela Buck p. 13) What are your fears and uncertainties about welcoming strangers?