Hospitality

I recently spent a month in Ghana, where I had several incredible experiences of hospitality. The people I met could not do enough for me. They stopped their work to take me for walks up mountains, and show me their cities and one guy even stopped digging his brothers grave and insisted on taking me to see the sights.

I really was blown away, and a quite embarrassed to be honest, by their incredible generosity. But whenever I commented on it they said it was nothing…no big deal at all…and in fact they themselves were embarrassed because apparently Ghanaian hospitality used to be so good,  but many Ghanaians complain that  in the last few years it’s really gone down hill.

Well it certainly made an impact on me. How hospitable am I, I wonder? What would I stop to look after somebody, or to welcome a visitor? I guess if someone arrived when I wasn’t too busy, I might offer to put the kettle on, you know. But am I able to meet someone and think that their needs may be more important than mine? I must confess that’s often not my first thought. There’s always that tension in life isn’t there, between tasks that need to be done, and people that need our attention.

Some time ago a gentleman called Jean Varnier founded a community for people with mixed levels of ability and need, and he’s written extensively on community life. He believes that hospitality is a reflection a healthy community, and in fact is an extension of the community’s hospitality amongst themselves. For example, if you imagine a family being a mini community, if they have no time for one another, they might struggle to offer hospitality to outsiders.

Jean Varnier sees every day as being full of opportunities to exercise the gift of hospitality. What happens when someone comes to my desk at work? Do I engage in conversation but keep my eyes on my computer screen to indicate that I’m not actually willing to stop and talk? There’s obviously a time to be getting on with my work – but may be the person who’s come to talk to me really needs my help. What about when I’m watching my favourite tv programme at home and the phone rings? Of course there are times, again, when my relaxation needs to be my priority. But if I am always my priority I could be missing out. There’s an encouragement in the letter to the Hebrews in the Christian New Testament, to entertain strangers, because by doing so, it says, some people have entertained angels. I like the idea of that. People bring real riches into our lives, and I don’t want to miss out on them. As for me, well I’m certainly no angel, but in Ghana they seem to treat all guests with special care and attention, and I’d like to be able to do the same.

This was written by Emily Davis, who is a member of the Life4seekers team.

Image source: The Hospitality of Abraham, www.holytrinityraleigh.org