Wednesday, December 23

Amy Stratton-Smith, Elder

The notion of hospitality conjures my earliest recollections of growing up in a manse, where my parents hosted a steady stream of visitors, guests, family, and friends. My mother taught me early that hospitality is sharing what you have. Not waiting until the laundry’s done, the furniture dusted, the papers all neatly filed, or the toys put away.

“Don’t wait until you have matching dishes, a larger table, or a bigger paycheck.” Something like that, anyway. “Invite people over NOW, don’t wait. Share what you have, and enjoy it,” she told me.

That’s also what she showed me all the years I was growing up. Parties for returning college students at Christmas, with candles glowing beneath their halos, a fondue pot simmering with little hot dogs in sweet and sour sauce, and laughter everywhere. Cranberry juice and ginger ale punch served in the church’s exquisite antique painted punchbowl, china as delicate as an eggshell, and entrusted to my mother’s care by the matriarchs of the church. Spontaneous lunches for guests after church with simple sandwiches served on her wedding china, and tea served in featherweight china cups with saucers. “Don’t save it, use it!” is her motto. Done with love and an artist’s flair for the elegant and dramatic.

The spirit of love and freedom for creative expression are at the heart of hospitality: honoring a guest with a piece of your heart, the warmth of your hand, and a genuine desire to make space in your life for another’s cares and burdens. Meeting over a shared slice of bread and a cup of hot tea, offering what you have and who you are, inviting mutual transformation and connection…

Advent is an annual reminder of the daily invitation to prepare our hearts for receiving the birth of a humble infant. It is the invitation to allow love to be born and grow within us, enlarging our concerns beyond our immediate surroundings, extending our compassion as far as the mind can imagine and the heart stretch.

Again and again, with what we have and who we are—right now!

Dear Lord, help us to welcome you into our lives, just as we are, so that we may reach out to others with love and compassion. Free us from the fears and concerns that cause us to hold back and shy away from where you are inviting us to go. Help us to trust your love for us, and give us courage to embrace each other with a deep and sincere spirit of hospitality. Amen.