- 11/1/2020
Reminded of the true gift of hospitality….. ( and thinking of my dear hospitable friend, Pammi Jo Alsip Nevins…..
“People tell me they have the gift of hospitality by which they mean that they like dinner parties.
They mean that they have (or aspire to have) a beautiful home with beautiful decor and an embarrassingly underused spare room, in which they enjoy entertaining exotic, interesting, appreciative guests who confirm just how lovely their home and their decor is.
This is not the gift of hospitality. This is the gift of a box of chocolates. Biblical hospitality starts in the heart and not the ikea catalogue. It is sacrificial and thoughtful, familial and flexible, patient and consistent, humble and imaginative. It allows for interruption, goes the second mile and gives space.
Above all else, hospitality means listening. “Listening is the highest form of hospitality,” says Henri Nouwen, aiming “not to change people but offering them space where change can take place.”
Hospitality like this rarely comes with a box of chocolates. It can often hurt our schedules, our emotions, our bank accounts and, yes, even our precious homes.”