Editor's Column by Carolyn Stent Hospitality is more than a holiday tradition; it can be practiced throughout the year.

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Editor's Columns | Send mail to The Voice Hospitality is practiced, not inherited My Mom practices an old-fashioned word: hospitality. She has never taken a Martha Stewart course. She doesn't create original and stunning table settings. Nonetheless, she welcomes people into our home. Before a holiday, my Mom looks for someone to invite to our home. As I was growing up, my family often would sit down and discuss whom to invite for Christmas. Having guests gave us an excuse to cook all sorts of Christmas candies and pull out our favorite games. Guests made each Christmas memorable. I will never forget the Christmas we celebrated in an old farmhouse in the English countryside. My parents had rented the house in England for three months so they could visit my father's family and the supporters of my parents' missionary work in Pakistan. That Christmas we had a surprise guest -- Amy. My mother met Amy on a flight from the United States to England. She invited Amy to spend Christmas with us after she discovered Amy didn't know anyone in England. A few days before Christmas, my father and I met Amy at the train station. And on Christmas day, my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from England and from the United States, my immediate family and Amy all sat down for a huge meal. That was hospitality, but hospitality is more than a holiday tradition; it can be practiced throughout the year. For instance, my family sometimes organizes game nights or fondue parties during the year. People in our church in Dallas, Ore., often invite each other home for a meal after the Sunday evening service. During my childhood as a missionary child, my family experienced generous hospitality. Every furlough, we traveled to churches and visited our friends to talk about the ministries in Pakistan. We stayed in many homes, sometimes with complete strangers. We sat at many tables for delicious meals. I admit we sometimes tired of traveling and longed for our own beds. But I can't imagine what those trips would have been like if we had stayed in motels every night. Since starting college, I have developed a new appreciation for hospitality. At one church I attended, a couple adopted two of my friends and me. They invited us to their home for meals and to study on their porch. The relaxing, cozy atmosphere of their home in the woods provided a retreat from the college dorms. I recently asked a friend if she had received any invitations from people in the church she started attending a few months ago. When she replied no, I wondered why not. Perhaps we think we have to have an immaculate house before we can entertain. Maybe we feel ashamed if we haven't prepared a perfect meal with several courses. Or maybe we just don't think about other people. We are too self-absorbed and busy to be sensitive to the needs of people around us. And yet the church should be a place where people find family. The author of Ephesians describes believers as "members of God's household." 1 John urges us to love each other because God loved us. I have learned that hospitality is not a skill that requires training. Hospitality is not a gift that only some people have. We practice hospitality by being sensitive to other people's needs and by being willing to share. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Editor's Columns | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2002 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.