The Hostess with the Mostest - You!

As we continue to study different spiritual disciplines, this week we looked at the spiritual discipline of hospitality.   This discipline has been presented to us by Jana Reis in her book, Flunking Sainthood  and she bases it upon the Benedictine discipline that claims that every stranger should be welcomed as Christ.  This means making an effort to help someone feel that they are no longer a stranger but are valued by you as God values them.    

Hospitality is not about turning your home into a bed and breakfast, nor is it about being perfect like Martha Stewart.   It is about faith being expressed in intimate connections with others because we honor them as God honors them.   Hospitality becomes a discipline as it infringes on our own time and causes us to put someone else first.  In some faith traditions, hospitality trumps all other things and is an obligation to provide.

We can practice hospitality by welcoming the stranger with as little an effort as looking them in the eyes which keeps them from being invisible.   We can practice hospitality in our homes:   either by not taking for granted the loved ones we live with, or reaching out to those who have become strangers through alienation.   We can practice hosptiality in this church with extravegant welcomes to anyone who enters our doors.   We can practice hosptiality in the world with a focus on helping the poor and forgotten.

So the challenge this week for us to practice hospitality.  Practice it in as many settings as possible .
And know that God's value for all people can be expressed through us.