Hospitality: Why and How

Catching an appetite for spiritual practice

Why Hospitality

“Hospitality - love of the stranger, the foreigner, the one who is ‘other’ - is a foundational call of the Christian faith. We see this in the Old Testament injunctions for the people of Israel to love the foreigners and immigrants remembering that they were strangers in Egypt. We see this in Matthew 25 where Jesus reminds his people that he is found in the "least of these", the hungry, thirsty, sick, imprisoned, strangers.” - Elizabeth Turman-Bryant in Radical Hospitality for the Rest of Us

Watch this illustrated at https://youtu.be/fJ-ztamQa5Q (first two minutes and 12 seconds only).

“It is easy to welcome our friends and family and those like us, but the practice of hospitality is so much more. Sabbath hospitality pushes us to the edges of our comfort zones and asks us to treat strangers as friends and share with them that same welcome… When we participate in the practice of hospitality, we are affirming the worth of all of God’s people. Taking time to look people in the eye, to create welcoming space, to offer delicious food and loving care affirms that each person is beloved--not just to God, but to all who follow Jesus.” - The Presbyerian Sabbath Practices Toolkit

https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/theology-formation-and-evangelism/office-of-christian-formation/faith-practices-toolkit/

Tips for Being Kind to Strangers

Be curious and listen to understand.
Show respect and suspend judgment.
Note any common ground as well as any differences.
Be authentic and welcome that from others.
Be purposeful and to the point.

From the Living Room Conversation guidelines

Tips for Being Kind to Yourself and Your Relations

First, practice self-compassion as an exercise in self-hospitality:
- Notice what you’re feeling and welcome the emotion.
- Ask what this feeling is telling you about yourself. Ask how this feeling might be guiding you.
- Cultivate gratitude for this feeling and self-discovery.
Then, practice hospitality with a partner:
- Notice what the other person is feeling and welcome her/his emotion.
- Ask yourself what her/his feeling is telling you about yourself and about the other person.
- Ask how this feeling might be guiding you and how it might be guiding the other person.
- Cultivate gratitude for this feeling and the discovery in yourself and in the other.