She's the first person to smile at me today.
The first to make me feel wanted. Understood.
I blink back tears. It's unknown how many students' lives
librarians have saved
by welcoming loners at lunch.”
Lisa Fipps, Starfish
Tolerance is a poor substitute for embrace.”
Jamie Arpin-Ricci
Hospitality means primarily the creation of a free space
where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy.
Hospitality is not to change people but to offer them space where change can
take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer
freedom not disturbed by dividing lines. . . . The paradox of hospitality is
that it wants to create emptiness, not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly
emptiness where strangers can enter and discover themselves as created free;
free to sing their own songs, speak their own languages, dance their own
dances; free also to leave and follow their own vocations. Hospitality is not a
subtle invitation to adore the lifestyle of the host, but the gift of a chance
for the guest to find his own.
Henri
Nouwen
__________________________________________
ah, wonderful welcoming God
ah, Spirit of love which embraces
you came
“Into this world, this demented inn in which there is
absolutely no room for [you] at all” you came uninvited (Merton)
there was no room for you in the minds and hearts of
those
who looked at Mary scandalously, sending her to the hills
for safety
there was no room at the inn
there was no room for you in the Synagogue at Nazareth
no room in the temple in Jerusalem
no room in the world
you were welcome, not welcome
greeted and judged, weighed and measured
you were not embraced
not welcome to be who you were
and yet you welcomed, all
at your birth there were welcome, shepherds
the lowest of the low
there were magi, heretic aliens from afar
you invited the most common of the common to be your
disciples
fishermen, strong of scent
you welcomed Jews
and Romans
shady women, and shady men
the rich, the poor
the healthy, the ill
the sane and the insane
saint and sinner
religious and none
you welcomed them into your presence
a sketchy lot
welcome!
and that is when it all began
you drove no one from your presence
you cast no one out
there was hope for change, I think
that greed would turn to generosity
that a lust for power would turn to humility
but there were no tests of faith
no demands for perfection
no loaded expectations
only welcome, and the offer of love
people came to you just as they were
and they were welcomed just as they were
and that radical welcome
set them free
to hear and see
to open their minds and hearts
to become Sacred children
imperfect still
struggling still
but new
we are called to welcome
to welcome all
not to parse our hospitality based upon who they are
not to burden with the expectation of change
the demand that they become who and what we want them to
be
but to welcome, unconditionally
so that people, welcomed, loved, safe and free
can
sing their own songs,
speak their own languages,
dance their own dances;
love whom they love
or leave to go their own way, undamaged, unjudged
we are to welcome
so that people can find and discover and accept
themselves
and know what it means to be truly loved
and knowing love
love and welcome others
in return
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