It’s been a hard week. First the devastating floods in Pakistan, the horrifying impact of Hurricane Ian in Cuba and Florida, and growing fears of a global recession that sent stock markets crashing and brought the fear of poverty and hunger into poor families everywhere. On a personal level it seems every time I turn round I hear of another friend or family member who has COVID or cancer.
It’s challenging in the midst of all of this to introduce our new theme Gratitude as Guests of the World. As many of you know, October and November have long been my gratitude months, instituted several years ago as a season of thanksgiving that spans Canadian and American Thanksgiving. However as Norm Wirzba says in his new book Agrarian Spirit, ”For gratitude to be effective and take hold in our world, it has to touch kindling and catch fire. Generosity is the fire that is sparked by gratitude.” Seeing ourselves as guests of the world and hosts to the world is an effective way to kindle the fire and create the atmosphere of generosity and gratitude so necessary for us and all creation to flourish and for those of us who have resources to reach out and help those who have none.
How do we accomplish this? One of my favourite practices which propel me into my season of gratitude is setting up a new contemplative garden. Over the last couple of weeks I gathered gifted items that really make me feel like a guest in our world. I admired the beautiful giant clam shell given to me a few weeks ago specifically to use in one of my contemplative gardens. I added some of my favourite shells and barnacle-encrusted memorabilia gifted by the sea during my beach combing expeditions, a small icon of St Drogo, the patron saint of coffee, which gives me a huge lift every time I look at it and a couple of tiny tea cups. To these I added plants received as gifts and a few ornaments given to me around the world. The trouble with this garden is that I have so many gifted items that hold a special place in my heart, that I did not know what to display.
As I put my garden together, admiring each item and remembering the stories that go with them, my sense of gratitude grew until it was like a fire that wanted to burst out and sweep the world with generosity. I am indeed a guest in this world and a very special guest at that. I am also called to be a host to all those who suffer and are in need of my generosity. “Freely you have received, freely give.” Jesus reminds us in Matthew 10:8. The following verses are very much about being guests in the world as the disciples are encouraged to go out without money or extra clothing or a place to stay. Everything they receive will be a gift. Now I know, I am stretching the interpretation of this passage when I suggest that every gift we receive should be viewed in this light but the way generosity bubbles up inside me when I admire the gifts given to me, makes me think that every gift should be viewed in this light.
As I sit and admire my garden today, I think of Lilly Lewin, sitting in her hotel room in Budapest in COVID isolation and asking herself what she calls the pilgrim question: What are the gifts of today? then adding the question What are the gifts you are grateful for today (FreerangeFriday: What are the gifts of today?)? When we see ourselves as guests of the world it is so much easier to count the gifts that are abundant around us. In fact I find that this attitude makes me live in anticipation of God’s gifts, and has me hyper-aware, watching and waiting to see what God will gift me with next. And then, in the spirit of “pay-it-forward”, I want to gift others too. Recognizing the gifts of God overflowing around us is a wonderful way to start a season of gratitude and generosity.
Take time to walk around your house today and note items gifted to you. Stop and look at them. If they are small, pick them up and hold them in your hands. What is special about each item? What memories do they evoke? Sit and immerse yourself in these memories for a couple of minutes. Close your eyes and imagine yourself as a guest being overwhelmed with special gifts from God. What is the response that bubbles up within you?
Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin inspire ways to get geared up for the coming season of gratitude in this popular online course! Sign up for 180 days to enjoy this retreat at your own pace – including craft tutorials and print-outs plus much more. Check it out in our shop!
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taize. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756.
Thank you for praying with us!
by Tom Sine Featured Photo by Cynthia Friesen Coyle*
I am so appreciative of Christine’s invitation to rediscover the gift of hospitality in these pandemic times. I also welcome the opportunity to share some important insights about the gift of hospitality in the first-century Christian community. I discovered these important insights in the important book Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition by Christine Pohl.
First, I was surprised and impressed to learn that the first-century church gathered in a new form of community that the world had never seen before. This community of the followers of Jesus became a new form of family comprised of people from different races, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Essentially this new family of Jesus congregated in homes and residential communities that not only worshiped together and cared for one another – they also actively reached out to those in need that lived in their larger community. I doubt the world had ever seen this kind of community care for neighbors in need.
Christine Pohl stated “the early church regularly met for worship in the household of believers. In such a location hospitality was a natural and necessary practice. It helped to foster family-like ties among believers and provided a setting in which to shape and reinforces a new identity”p.32
Extending hospitality to strangers who were struggling is one of the primary distinguishing characteristics of the early church from the surrounding environment. “Writings from the first five centuries demonstrating the hospitality in defining the church as a universal community…in providing care for the poor the stranger and sick.”P33
Unfortunately, as a consequence of the ongoing Covid Crisis churches today, in many western countries are suffering a crippling decline not only in attendance and giving, but increasingly in reaching out to our neighbors locally and globally.
Thankfully, however, there are still some churches creating innovative ways to provide for neighbors in need locally and globally. The Mennonite Church has created one remarkable form of empowerment that is having an impact on their neighbors not only in North America but also on the lives of our most vulnerable global neighbors as well.
The Mennonite Church in the United States and Canada have launched a campaign to counter both the growing environmental crisis and declining economic crisis of our poorest neighbors.
They have set the goal of planting one million trees not only in the US and Canada but Latin America and the African continent as well. Mennonite Church USA NEWS “Tree Planting Initiative” December 9, 2020
I realize that planting a million trees may not be within reach for your denomination. However there are some modest ways that those in your congregation could help.
One of the characteristics of our poorest neighborhoods in the US, that we have recently have been learning about, is that they have virtually no shade or fruit tress in their neighborhoods. Could your church, possibly with churches in those neighborhoods, start planting some fruit trees and shade trees? In the past decade I have seen a number of mainline churches, invite retired neighbors and those and those being hammered by the pandemic to sign up for a plot in their community garden. Is that within reach in your church? What impact could it have for those struggling where you live, if your struggling congregation joined others in creating one new venture tree planting or community garden projects?
This is your invitation to invite members of your congregation to experience what that first generation of the family of Jesus did in hospitality. This is your invitation to join those that are discovering the satisfaction of collaborating with our struggling neighbors to make a real difference in times like these
We would love to learn how you and your church collaborate with other congregations in creating innovative opportunities, taking time and resources to express the hospitality of Jesus as we race into our turbulent tomorrows. We would love to share some of your innovative examples of the hospitality of the community of Christ in your neighborhood. Send your examples of community empowerment.
We will post some of your examples of neighborhood engagement to motivate other congregations in the turbulent 2020s.
Tom Sine twsine@gmail.com check out: 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change
*Photo by Cynthia Friesen Coyle, from the Mennonite Men JoinTrees project: “Another 412 trees were recently planted along the Indiana Toll Road in two separate projects. This is the second year in a row that Mennonite Men teamed up with Indiana Toll Road to plant trees in open areas along the interstate. We look forward to another project next spring and hope this work promotes the establishment of trees along our highways to add beauty, reduce mowing, support biodiversity, and sequester carbon. To explore projects like this in your area, contact Steve Thomas at SteveT@MennoniteMen.org.”
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Here we are on the last day of September! How are you doing?
I’m sitting in a hotel in Budapest Hungary waiting on an official covid tester. On Tuesday when we arrived at our hotel, I decided to do an at-home test since I’d been feeling poorly. I tested positive for covid for the first time in over two years! Not how I’d planned to spend the final days of our anniversary holiday/trip. In Budapest, you must quarantine for at least five days and I need an ‘official test” to prove to the insurance company and travel people that I’m really sick so they will allow us to fly home a different day rather than this morning. In Budapest, when you are sick in a hotel, the tester comes to you! You must pay for the test and there is a fee for the tester to come to you, but they really do want you to quarantine!
Yesterday I was NOT happy about this! Yesterday was spent talking to travel company representatives who didn’t know much, trying to figure out when we could fly back home and what the actual protocols are for getting on a plane after testing positive. Sadly it’s a “free for all” in most countries so lots of people are flying sick! I knew that with my fever and cough I wouldn’t want to fly even if it wasn’t covid! And it makes me sad and angry that people ARE choosing to fly while sick! My brain was foggy and sneezing and coughing didn’t give me much grace for myself or others.
I had to stop and ask the Pilgrimage Question: WHAT ARE THE GIFTS?
There really are so many!
1. TRAVEL AGENT TERRY I am grateful for our travel agent Terry back in the states. She did the real work behind the scenes to help us navigate details with the travel company and since she is 9 hours behind us, answered our texts late at night and early in the morning!
2. GREAT HOTEL I am grateful to our hotel for letting us stay in the same room and for organizing the testing and sending up room service and providing the things we cannot get for ourselves. They have shown hospitality and kindness after two years of pandemic practice!
3. RAIN ! I am grateful that it’s raining and supposed to rain all weekend. The Rain makes it easier to stay in and rest! Not much fun to travel or sightsee in pouring down rain so I have less FOMO ( fear of missing out : ))
4. FEVER BREAKING! My fever broke last night so hopefully I am on the mend. Grateful that I travel with an abundance of advil, tylenol and over the counter meds that have helped greatly!
5. PEACE. Early in the pandemic, I was terrified of getting covid. I have anxiety and depression and the uncertainty of the disease before vaccines and boosters totally shut me down. I was in a very dark place. So I am SO GRATEFUL to be peaceful rather than anxious!
6. FRIENDS WHO PRAY! So grateful for all the friends who are praying for us!
7. TIME…this extended stay is actually the gift of time to REST, time to HEAL. There are no dishes to wash, dogs to walk, or things I have to do like if I was in my own house. I get to stay inside and REST! I get to have time to just BE! I get time to take my own advice and remember that #RESTisHOLY
What are the GIFTS you are grateful for today?
What do you “GET TO DO” rather than “have to” DO today?
Today I GET to REST! Today I get to be with Jesus. Today I get to pray for my friends digging out form the hurricane in Florida. Today I get to love my husband as he coughs and sneezes too!
Today I GET TO REST in the great hands of God who loves me so much, just as I am in my pjs and with my kleenex box by my side!
The gospel reading for this weekend comes from Luke 17″ 5-10 . Check out Father Richard Rohr’s sermon on this scripture. It is an encouraging word for all of us!
LITTLE FAITH might be better than Big Fatih
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Luke 17:5-6
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
LAST CHANCE!!!!
We are collecting recipes across our Godspace community for our first-ever cookbook. Send your recipe written in your own words, where it came from, and why it’s special to you to godspacelight@gmail.com – if you send 3 or more recipes in, you will receive a FREE digital copy of the finished cookbook! For more information check out this post: https://godspacelight.com/2022/08/03/the-great-godspace-cookbook-gathering/
“Ka-kí-kiskéyihtétan óma, namoya kinwés maka aciyowés pohko óma óta ka-hayayak wasétam askihk, ékwa ka-kakwéy miskétan kiskéyihtamowin, iyinísiwin, kistéyitowin, mina nánisitotatowin kakiya ayisiniwak, ékosi óma kakiya ka-wahkotowak.”
“Realize that we as human beings have been put on this earth for only a short time and that we must use this time to gain wisdom, knowledge, respect and the understanding for all human beings since we are all relatives.”
Cree Proverb
Opening a YouTube discussion for the Canadian National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Kelly Frank Davis explained the basic philosophy of the good mind she was taught by an elder. ‘The word that comes before all else’ for the Haudensaunee people. This is an acknowledgement of everything in creation with gratitude for all it gives us.
This practice thanks the four families of the earth; the animal kingdom, plant life, mineral life and us “poor pitiful human beings.” Davis explains that the man who taught her the philosophy noted we are pitiful as we cannot survive without those three other families, who do fine without us.
The philosophy is used to open gatherings and meetings to raise minds to a divine place of gratitude and appreciation and optimism, giving thanks for the sunshine and the waters flowing, for the birds singing, for the animals who provide sustenance for us. Davis has heard this opening last up to 90 minutes. After each thank you, the speaker will say “now our minds are one.” Listeners are meant to focus only on gratitude and what the person giving the message is sharing. This state of “the good mind” is considered the most powerful mindset a person can have to get down to the business at hand.
May we learn this focus. It will help us understand the depth of hurt done to our aboriginal peoples and the way to truth and reconciliation.
September 30th has been known as Orange Shirt Day in Canada since 1973, in recognition of the harm the residential school system did to our aboriginal children’s sense of self-esteem and well-being, and as an affirmation of the Orange Shirt Society’s commitment to ensure that everyone around us matters. In 2021 Canada celebrated the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30. This year’s theme is Remembering the Children.
A young girl stood facing the large, gray stone building. Phyllis was wearing her new bright and silky orange shirt laced up the front. She had gone to Robinson’s Department store to buy the shirt, with her grandmother, for the first day of school. They had never had much money, but Granny had managed to purchase the beautiful shirt for Phyllis’ first day at St Joseph Mission School just outside of Williams Lake, British Columbia in 1973. She was so very excited.
Quickly excitement gave way to horror as the teachers at the school stripped little Phyllis and took away all her clothes, including the beloved orange shirt. She would never see or wear the shirt again. The six-year-old did not understand why they would not give the shirt back to her. It was hers!
From that day to this, the color orange always reminds her of that loss and how her feelings didn’t matter. How no one cared and she felt like she had no value. All the children were crying that day, and no one cared.
Phyllis Webstad is Northern Secwpemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (Canoe Creek Indian Band). She comes from mixed Secwepemc and Irish/French heritage, was born in Dog Creek, Manitoba, and lives in Williams Lake, BC. Today, Phyllis is married, has one son, a stepson and five grandchildren. She is the Founder and Ambassador of the Orange Shirt Society and tours the country telling her story and raising awareness about the impacts of the residential school system. She has now published two books, the “Orange Shirt Story” and “Phyllis’s Orange Shirt” for younger children.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was officially launched in Canada, June 2, 2008, as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement which came into effect in September 2007. This Commission was charged with raising awareness of the plight of those who had been dragged from their homes and at the ages of five-17 and were forced by law, for 100 years, to attend residential schools. Former residents slowly released their stories of not being allowed to speak their native languages under threat of physical harm and abuse. They were not allowed their own names and in many cases were assigned numbers instead. Many tales of food shortages and escape attempts began to surface. The children we beaten and tales of sexual abuse and being cruelly restrained horrified those who were writing down their stories.
On May 27th, 2021, the world learned that unmarked graves containing the bodies of 215 individuals, some as young as three, had been discovered on the grounds of the former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. The stories of physical, emotional and sexual abuse were now mainstream news.
Ancaster Village Church is the church I am proud to call home, here in the Hamilton region of Ontario. This land is located on the lands promised to the Six Nations of the Grand River, the largest Indian reserve in Canada with 12,757 people.
Each Sunday we acknowledge that we meet on Treaty 3 (1792) lands of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations People. We are learning what it means to be good stewards of these shared lands. And we are committed to reconciliation. Each week one of the 94 calls to action, which came out of the TRC’s work, is read aloud. These cover all areas of life, and the rights afforded each Canadian citizen. I read number four as we began this practice at church. “We call upon all levels of government to fully implement Jordan’s Principle.”
Jordan River Anderson, a young boy from Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, was born with complex medical needs. He received special treatment in a Winnipeg hospital for over two years. When doctors finally cleared him to return home to his reserve, disputes erupted over which level of government would pay for the in-home care—federal or provincial—and Jordan was forced to spend more than two more years in the Winnipeg hospital, where he died at five years of age, in 2005, without ever having seen his home.
And so, we pray. For the children, known and unknown, present and past, who have suffered the legacy of so many atrocities.
We pray for truth. We pray for reconciliation. We pray for forgiveness. We pray for justice. We pray we too may practice this philosophy of the good mind, the renewal of our minds as outlined in Romans 12:2, to transform our thinking and to make us pliable in the hands of the Great Potter who called us to love all peoples and suffer the little children to come to him.
Residential schools were designed to force aboriginal children into Christianity. They already knew its tenets more deeply than those who sought to convert them. They learned them at the knees of their parents and grandparents, who taught them respect for all things on the traplines, while tending to the earth and gazing at the moon.
We apologize as we pray: Father, forgive those who thought they knew better.
We all need the Wholeness of God…this resource includes reflections and activities for coping and thriving during the COVID-19 challenges in search of shalom as well as hope for restoration during and after this period of social distancing.
photos and writings by June Friesen. Scripture from the New International Version. Editor’s Note: We are wrapping up our hospitality theme Embracing the Wild Hospitality of God and moving into our NEW theme, Gratitude As Guests Of The World in October – which starts Saturday – and November. Enjoy this reflection as a bridge!
During the past few weeks as we have been challenged to think about hospitality, I have thought over and over about how my husband and I have shared our home with many people. I at first wanted to say, young people and then began to realize that the youngest was a little girl 3 months old who came to live with our family as a foster baby until she was adopted just before her first birthday and the oldest was someone in their retirement years who needed a safe space to stay for a while. As I think of the Scriptures and passages that talk about receiving people with a hospitable attitude I wonder – if Jesus were here today how would He respond to the needs of different ages at different times in their lives.
When I went to the Scriptures, I began to see examples of people of all ages being welcomed. Jesus welcomed the children and he welcomed the sinners. In the Old Testament, God encouraged the Israelites to welcome the foreigners/those in need – one example is Boaz who welcomed Ruth, a foreigner to glean in his fields.
5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
I think of Rahab, a foreigner who welcomed the Israelite spies into her home so they could escape.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
In the New Testament we are encouraged to welcome all people into the community of believers – to be hospitable to all races/nationalities of people.
I would like to share a couple of examples out of the many in our lives where we have opened our home to someone.
One night, we received a phone call from a teenager we knew quite well who had just been put out on the street. She needed a place to live. We had a very humble dwelling but we could make room. We were able to help her have a stable place, finish high school and go on to college. We are still in touch with her today and she has blessed many people in her life worldwide.
More than once I have had someone come to my door asking if I would care for their child. I remember asking one lady, “Why did you come to my house?” She said when I walked by your home the past year, on my way to work I noticed you had two little boys and you were often outside in the back yard with them. You appeared so caring and gentle – that is why I came. We never know who is watching us.
13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
One night about 8 p.m. the doorbell rang. I went to the door and two men in white robes were standing there. We lived in the parsonage by the church so that is why they came to us. They had no luggage, not even a backpack. They ask if we had a place they could sleep and pointed to the garage. It was not really a garage but a storage shed. We invited them in and they washed up quickly and quietly. My husband and I went out and actually put two mats on the floor space for them to lay down. They wanted nothing more and when we got up in the morning they were gone, the door to the building they stayed in was locked. To this day we wonder if indeed we ‘entertained angels unaware.’
To be hospitable for me means to be willing to share whatever I have with whoever God brings into my life that may be in need. It may not be that I can always give a person exactly what they want but if I have access to what they need maybe I can at least offer that to them. One may say, “what if they do not accept what I offer?” God does not judge a person on what the action or reaction of the person in need may be – He will judge us on our attitude and response. Another thought that comes to my mind – “What if the person asks something of me I do not know if I can do or give?” Let me give you another example. The phone rang and my husband answers. A man who lived in our city who worked with foreign students needed a home for three weeks for a Japanese Man who had just arrived in our community and could not get into the college dorm for three weeks. Would you be willing to take him in? He would also like to have help learning the English language better. We have two boys 4 and 7 – hmmmm…. But we said yes. What is this man going to eat I wondered? And probably had many more questions. And how would we communicate? Let me tell you one thing I learned rather quickly – children have patience to teach – and they grew to love this young man. After he moved to the dorm, he would still come by to visit and a couple of times he arrived at the door with a bag of groceries from the Japanese market, “I am so hungry for Japanese food, can you please cook for me?” And I would do my best and we would enjoy a meal together. Seven years later I had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo, Japan to stay with a family there for three weeks. Since we had been corresponding, I told him I would be there and he came to see me.
Yes, being hospitable or showing hospitality comes in so many different ways, to so many different kinds of situations and for some of us we may not even think of it being a godly action/characteristic. But as I reflect over the many, many experiences I have had over my life whether it is being the one extending hospitality or the one receiving it – it most often is a far greater blessing to all involved than we think or maybe one could say that we could even imagine.
It is my prayer today that as you read this you may be challenged to see places where you have shown hospitality or have received hospitality and you were unaware. Let us also be challenged to have an open spirit to new experiences. It makes me think of the verses in Hebrews 13:1-2 “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
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by Elaine Breckenridge. Featured photo and below of a restaurant sign in Galway, Ireland, 2016
A few years ago, I had the fortune to go on a pilgrimage to Ireland. One day we spent the morning walking in The Burren, a wild landscape located in County Clare. It was beautiful and also very wet and windy. Afterwards, we piled into our small tour bus and headed to Galway for lunch. As I was getting off the bus, I caught a glimpse of myself in the driver’s rear-view mirror. My appearance was a disaster! It was if every strand of hair on my head was growing in a different direction. As we walked and grew near the restaurant, I said to my traveling companion, “I don’t like to be seen looking like this in public. I hope there is a restroom near the front door so I can fix my hair.” And then, turning the corner, here is what came into view:
“You look fine.” Immediately I relaxed. I was not alone! The sign was a warm gesture which said to me, “You are welcome just the way you are. Come on in.” I entered the restaurant without a care in the world. It was a moment of hospitality that I will always remember. Hospitality, for me, is being welcomed in such a way that I feel accepted and comfortable. That is certainly what happened when I saw that sign. And speaking of signs, that particular sign points to the reality of the hospitality of God.
The God whom I know is one who assures me, personally, that I am accepted and acceptable. I say “personally” because I do not simply believe this as a point of doctrine (I do, in fact) but because it is something that I experience in prayer. In prayer, I am often aware of how deeply I am loved by God. God is not only creator, host and guest, but God also serves us as a companion. God is longing to be in a life-giving relationship with all of us. This was made quite apparent in the Incarnation. God put on flesh in the person of Jesus to make the point that God is with us. God journeys with us as we journey through life. We are never alone because in life, in death, God is always with us.
A writer, Paula D’Arcy once said, “God comes to us disguised as our life.” (Rohr, Richard, Everything Belongs) We can expand that by saying that God’s hospitality, also comes to us disguised as our life. God is always reaching out to us and often welcomes us in surprising ways. I am remembering one time in particular.
Both of my adult sons have left the Christian Church. They have not left Christ and though they do not say creeds on Sunday mornings, they actively exercise their baptismal vows: following Christ, serving others, respecting the dignity of every human being, caring for creation.
Still, when my youngest son made his move to join an Eastern spiritual ashram that follows the path of yoga and a lineage of yogi masters, called Ananda, I was unsure. I decided to meet these people who would be shepherding my then eighteen-year-old son.
Ananda’s Blue Lotus Temple, Bothell, Washington
I met with two of their ministers. They invited me into their temple. We took our seats in chairs configured in a small circle. One of them asked, “As a way of getting to know one another, I wonder if we might meditate together?” I was surprised, but willing to accept the invitation. They offered no prayers, gave no instruction except to say that a ringing of a small singing bowl would begin and end our time of silence. We sat in silence for at least twenty minutes.
I was surprised by the experience of the gentle silence which enabled me to practice my form of Christian contemplative prayer –almost immediately. I felt held by their practice without being led into their practice. I dropped into my heart center by saying the Jesus Prayer. God was right there welcoming me, encouraging me, comforting me. The message was clear, I had no reason to fear for my son’s soul.
It was an extraordinary experience of hospitality. I felt welcomed by people who were not cross-carrying Christians but who follow the witness and celebrate the life of Jesus. They are on a spiritual path which produces the fruits of peace, love and joy. They shared those fruits with me and gave me the space to have my own experience of prayer that day. It was a beautiful moment to be welcomed into a circle of prayer led by people outside my faith tradition. God embraced and blessed us all in that circle. I was reminded by what Henry Nouwen wrote,
“Hospitality means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend. It is not to change people but to offer them space where change can take place. Hospitality is not a subtle invitation to adore the lifestyle of the host, but the gift of a chance for the guest to find their own.”
In his book, One River, Many Wells, Matthew Fox, writes that “All spiritual traditions can learn from each other and offer something fresh from their experiences and teachings.” (P. 436) I believe that is true and I have made a study of many of the religions of the world. However, this was the first time I had sat in a circle with non-Christians and experienced God-with-us. As the psalmist wrote, “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7, NRSV)
Accepting God’s hospitality means surrendering to what we are being offered in any given moment. By surrendering to that present with an open mind, an open heart and an open body, we experience the hospitality of God. The German 13th century theologian and mystic Meister Eckhart said “All paths lead to God, for God is on them all equally for the person who knows.” (Fox, p. 11)
The breadth and depth of that statement and God’s hospitality can be experienced by going to and from the heart experience. For it is there that we cultivate God’s wild hospitality within us, meant to be shared with the world. And with that sharing, all of humanity will someday know shalom, God’s peace and wholeness.
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