Our focus on embracing the wild hospitality of God is changing the way I look at life and at our world. The concept of stewardship, so often used to define our relationship to the rest of creation and one which I have used for a long time in preference to the concept of dominion, still seems inadequate. It gives the impression that we are the ones in charge and are responsible to look after all else that God created. God is seen as an often strict and critical master. There is no sense of mutuality, no recognition of the need to listen to the creation and consult it in what we do and how we steward.
If however I recognize myself as both a guest in God’s world and a host for God’s world my attitude changes. There is a sense of mutual relationship, of intimacy both with God and creation that is quite profound. I am a guest not a steward. My whole life is a generous gift of God’s lavish bounty. Beauty, abundance, joy, generosity and love, all these I receive from God and much more. All these are gifts to me of hospitality and caring. Gifts that I am responsible to share with all the other guests at the table – not just the human ones but also the animals and plants of God’s good creation.
Last week, in her post God’s Hospitality: Hosting and Guesting, Elaine Breckenridge expressed something similar. She asked: What does it mean to behave like a revered guest at the banquet God has created for us on our planet? The word “guest” invites me to consciously tread lightly on the Earth. Being a guest on the Earth has a more intimate feel to it than “being a steward of creation” or “reducing my carbon footprint.” It speaks to me of finding ways to reverence the Earth in the same way that indigenous people do.
There is more to this concept than just the recognition of ourselves as guests. It is easy for us to see God as our host, but God as guest which I talked about last week is another matter. I am both inspired and stunned by the thought expressed by Richard Middleton in his book A New Heaven and A New Earth that our purpose is to transform the whole earth into a fitting place, a hospitable place, not just for humankind to dwell, but also for God to dwell. Can you imagine it? God longs for a beautiful place where all creation flourishes and enjoys abundant provision, a place in which God too feels welcomed and comfortable, able to walk once more in a hospitable relationship with humankind.
This concept has so grabbed my mind that I cannot turn away from it. God not as host but as guest. God longing to be invited to live in the midst of this beautiful, divinely inspired creation once more but waiting for the creation to be restored and our relationships to be renewed so that God feels comfortable here once more.
Andy Wade and I talked about that in our recent Facebook live session when we shared how he transformed his backyard to garden with God in mind. He cut out the straight lines. He stopped using pesticides. He planted to attract a wide variety of wildlife and created contemplative spaces that were not just inviting for him, but he felt also for God. That transformed space did indeed have a strong sense of the presence of God about it.
So as I sit here thinking about this today I realize that each of us has the opportunity to transform our own little space as a place of welcome for God. In the garden it might mean doing away with pesticides and harsh chemicals, but in our lives it means doing away with hatred and discrimination and indifference to other humans and to all of creation.
I want to be a hospitable person. I want others to feel welcome in my home, but I also want to be a person who welcomes God into a space that is comfortable and inviting. What about you? What kind of relationship do you long for with God? Is there one small thing you could do this week to provide a more welcoming environment?
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Editor’s Note: The following reflection has been excerpted from Christine Sine’s post Guests of the World. The accompanying recipe is from Christine Sine’s post Refreshing Drinks From The Garden For Hot Days. We hope you enjoy this series of seasonal hospitality reflections and recipes!
As we entertain and enjoy fun, food and fellowship together, I am very aware that in some ways all of us are guests, guests of God and of God’s world, generously and lavishly experiencing the hospitality of a world that is itself a gift from God. I am aware of that as I pick raspberries in the early morning, enjoying the abundance of God’s provision. I am aware of it too as I gaze on the beauty around me and breathe in the fragrance of God’s presence.
Celtic saints, who saw themselves as hospites mundi, or guests of the world, living lightly on this earth and not becoming attached to possessions or to one location. These followers of Christ, saw all of life as a pilgrimage, a journey towards God. They believed that we live in perpetual exile, constantly seeking after Christ, and our outward journeys are to reflect our inner transformation. In exiling themselves from the comforts of home, pilgrims taught themselves to rely only on God.
The Celts had a saying for those setting out on pilgrimage: “Let your feet follow your heart until you find your place of resurrection.” This was a spot where God’s will for a pilgrim would be revealed and fulfilled. The place of resurrection need not be a famous holy site or a place far away. It could be a simple stone hut, a windswept island, or a secluded valley. The important thing was that each person needed to find their own site.
Recognizing ourselves as guests and pilgrims effects how we view everything that happens to us. Pilgrims and those who travel frequently do not take anything for granted. They learn to be grateful for comforts that those who never leave home take for granted. For a guest, each meal, especially a home cooked meal, is a gift of love from the host. Each bed provided for us to sleep in is a generous act of sharing and caring. Everything is now a gift of God.
So as you go out into the world think of yourself today as a guest of the world and prepare yourself for the amazing gifts God wants to lavish on you today – gifts of friendship, and food. Gifts of fellowship and love and caring. And let me know what new things open up for you as a result.
~ ~ ~
Citrus/Mint Iced tea punch
- 8 teaspoons Loose Leaf red or black tea Or 8-10 Teabags (I like to use fruit flavoured teas)
- l cup (or more) Fresh Mint Leaves
- 8 cups Boiling Water
- 1 cup Orange Juice – or seaberry juice if you have this available
- 1/2 cup lemon juice – or use lemon verbena from the garden
- 1 Orange, Cut Into Thin Slices
- 1 Lemon, Cut Into Thin Slices
- 1 Lime, Cut Into Thin Slices
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup ginger stevia syrup (recipe found below, or substitute with a simple syrup especially for those with stevia allergies)
- 2 litre bottle sparkling mineral water or soda water.
This is a favourite for our summer BBQs & picnics. Put tea & mint in a heat-resistant glass or ceramic pot. Pour in the boiling water & steep for 30 minutes. Strain & refrigerate. Pour into a large pitcher. Add orange juice. Add orange, lemon & lime rinds. Add ginger syrup & mineral water and serve with ice cubes. If you prefer a more lemony flavour add 1/2 cup lemon juice or a cup of lemon verbena leaves to the tea mix.
GINGER STEVIA SYRUP
- 2 cups water
- 1 – 2 tablespoon dried stevia, crushed – I use a mortar and pestle
- ¾ cup ginger root, finely chopped or grated
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- ¼ cup lemon juice or 1/2 cup lemon verbena leaves chopped
- 1 cup mint leaves (optional)
Bring water to boil. Add ginger & stevia, as well as the lemon verbena and mint if you are using them. Boil for 10 minutes, strain into a heat resistant container. Add vanilla and lemon juice. This syrup will store in the refrigerator for several weeks
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I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery.
Colossians 2: 2 The Message
I am not a weaver or one who knows how to knit or crochet. I so appreciate the gift of knitting and weaving and those with the gift of needlework! and I love a great sweater or a fuzzy hat! Can you tell I am ready for cold weather? I also love to see the amazing tapestries that have been created throughout the centuries …Once upon a time, I got to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry while on pilgrimage in France . Made to tell the story of William the Conqueror and the Norman invasion of Britain.
Bayeux Tapestry
Tapestries take time
They require patience to create
They are labors of love and skill
They are Art
This verse says that GOD wants to weave us into his tapestry!
I am currently finishing work at retreat where we have looked at how God is weaving us together in community. I have created a sacred space prayer experience and done some atmosphere architecture and worship responses for the gathering. I was inspired to use yarn to help us see how we are all connected and help us consider how God is weaving us into his loving community and inviting us to rest in that love!
I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery.
Colossians 2: 2 The Message
READ this verse again.
What would it be like to be woven into a tapestry of love? What would that look like?
If you were knitting or weaving a tapestry of love, what colors would you choose?
What colors would you choose?
BRAID THREE STRANDS of YARN
If you have some yarn handy…cut three strands and tie a knot at the end and begin to braid them together.
As you braid your yarn…. ( if you don’t have yarn around, imagine the process of braiding or use something else that can be braided, or grab a woven sweater or other garment and look at the weave up close)
PRAY and TALK TO GOD
CONSIDER what God has been weaving into your life in the last few months. What do you notice?
What does Jesus want to weave into your life in the days ahead? Ask Him to show you.
What do you need Jesus to weave into your life?
Like Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Compassion, Gentleness, Trust, Healing, Hope, Belief, Encouragement, Creativity…
Something Else?
As you braid, or look at a woven garment, listen to Jesus and allow Jesus to show you what he is weaving into your life.
Braid your yarn and ask Jesus to weave his Love and Peace i.
As you hold your yarn or your sweater or woven blanket….
Breathe in God’s Love
Breathe out any fear you have
Breathe in God’s Love
Breathe out your Stress
If you’ve braided yarn, make it into a bracelet to wear or a bookmark to use to remind you of What God is weaving into your life daily!
And don’t miss the second part of this verse….
you are being invited to be connected to God and have peaceful minds ….confident and at REST! Take some time to REST this week…Rest in God’s great love for you!
What is God Weaving into your Life?
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
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by Barbie Perks
We’ve spoken many, many times about how the Covid-19 pandemic robbed us of fellowship and community. And how slowly getting back to ‘normal’ life has changed how we interact with others around us.
A couple of questions to ponder:
- Exactly what have I lost during the years of isolation?
- Can I name it?
- Do I miss it?
- Do I want it back?
- What does fellowship look like to me now, compared with 2 or 3 years ago?
One of the ways my husband and I connected especially beautifully was through having an open home, and hosting meals and get-togethers for our friends and church community. He is a sociable extrovert who loves conversations and company. I tend to be on the introverted, happy-with-my-own-company scale. Over the years we learned how to compromise, and you know, hospitality was a wonderful gift from God to us. It was both a service and a ministry, a choice to step out and love in a very practical manner.
In South Africa, the (either lunch or supper) braai (barbecue) is a time-honoured way of offering hospitality. In Iringa, we experienced a Saturday morning ‘pancake’ breakfast where people got together to meet newcomers, or just share their weekly activities and prayer needs. It was a lovely time for us and we determined to do this as well when we returned to SA.
We moved into a retirement village in January, not entirely sure what to expect, but open to what God might have for us in this new season of our lives. There is a fellowship committee that organises a monthly braai, and a second mid-month event. We have built-in hospitality events in our village! How cool is that!! It’s a wonderful way for my husband to get his regular social fix without any work from me, plus church attendance is back to normal.
And yet… the introverted me was missing out. I love to organise and prepare, and I missed the open-home vibe. Last week, a friend was due back from a trip, the airport trip was around supper time, so I said to bring him back to supper with us. Then decided to invite another couple, who it appeared were fetching their neighbours from the same flight, so the invite was extended to them, then to two other couples, and our immediate neighbour. Suddenly I was full into an ‘event’, and sorting out seating, plates, cutlery – and I discovered I was singing! I felt normal again. The earth had tilted back into stability. Wow!!
Jesus shared many meals during his ministry – with close friends, with strangers, with people opposed to him and seeking to discredit and even kill him. Those meals were opportunities he used to initiate conversations, to bring healing touches and words to those who needed it, to laugh with his friends, to restore outcasts to society. We may not necessarily do all those things, but sometimes even the invitation sends a message to the person: we value you and your company.
Think of someone you could value with an invitation to a meal and company with others. Who is God calling you to connect with today?
Photo by Daniil Silantev on Unsplash
Did you know? If you visit our Seasons and Blessings Resource Page, there is a whole section on Back-to-School resources listed under the Autumn column! We have gathered prayers and practical resources to help you mentally and spiritually prepare yourself and your kids for the school year ahead. You might also enjoy checking out this free downloadable book of prayers for children, found in our shop.
by Elaine Breckenridge; feature photo by Elaine: “‘EARTHRISE’ Picture taken of my large framed reprint”
“Earthrise,” the first known picture of the Earth from the vantage point of the Moon, was taken by astronaut William Anders on the Apollo 8 mission in 1968. Enthralled by the picture, I was delighted to be gifted by my husband with a very large and beautifully framed reprint. It hangs in the bedroom on my side of the bed. Every morning, it is a reminder to be grateful for the wild and cosmic hospitality of God.
The phrase “cosmic hospitality” comes from a chapter in Matthew Fox’s seminal book on creation spirituality called Original Blessing. Reflecting on the cosmic hospitality of God, he writes, “The Creator God is a gracious and abundant and generous host/hostess. She has spread out for our delight a banquet that was twenty billion years in the making.” Then writing with the exuberance of some of the Old Testament psalms and prayers found in the Celtic Christian tradition, he describes Earth’s banquet culminating with this conclusion. “God has declared that this banquet is “very good.” And so are we, blessings ourselves, invited to the banquet. God is indeed a good host/hostess, welcoming us to creation and its multiple gifts and blessings.”
I am a grateful recipient of God’s hospitality. The banquet is a feast for all my senses. Just last evening, I tasted and savored a succulent peach. I know the exhilaration of the scent of creosote after a desert rain. I love the caress of the warm sand of a California beach between my toes. Can anything be more beautiful to the eye than the sun sinking below the western horizon painting the sky with color, or hearing the conversation of a mated pair of Bald Eagles?
Our Regular Eagle Visitors, Chatting
I have known both emotional and physical shelter from trees. I have been healed by the Spirit on the breath of the wind. I have experienced the mystery of a Celtic “thin place” wherever the fire in my belly connects with a landscape of earth, air and water. And I have been the recipient of human hospitality in love, friendship, ministry and more.
Fox writes, that “the banquet we call the planet Earth, works.” And then here is the punch line. “It works for the benefit of human beings, if we behave toward the Earth as reverent guests.” Humanity, Fox points out, forgot and forgets how to be a good guest.
And then he describes the Incarnation as an expression of God’s hospitality. God played host in the act of creation, but then let go of hosting to become a guest as well. The divine and human guest of the world was and is Jesus. “Jesus”, Fox says “was an excellent guest, a true revelation of God’s guesting side.”
Wow! Think of how generous a guest, Jesus was. No home was too high or too low in terms of status for him. He dined with tax collectors and sinners and with scribes and Pharisees. He drank water from the hand of a Samarian woman, and as a guest allowed a woman to wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. He told many parables about the importance of being an appropriate guest. Jesus showed us that hospitality is not simply setting a table and setting out food; it involves inviting others and serving them. Guests have their role to play in receiving the gifts from others. Ultimately, hospitality is a relationship.
As a follower of Jesus, I can see how important it is to imitate his example of being a guest in the world—being open to receive hospitality and to engage in relationships with other humans where ever and whenever it may be offered. Additionally, I am challenged to understand myself as a guest on the Earth.
What does it mean to behave like a revered guest at the banquet God has created for us on our planet? The word “guest” invites me to consciously tread lightly on the Earth. Being a guest on the Earth has a more intimate feel to it than “being a steward of creation” or “reducing my carbon footprint.” It speaks to me of finding ways to reverence the Earth in the same way that indigenous people do.
Giving thanks for all that makes this meal possible
Saying a grace before meals is one thing, but what would it be like to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for a piece of raw salmon that I put in my grocery cart? As I chop my lovely summer vegetables for a meal, perhaps I can acknowledge the soil, sunlight, and souls who gifted me with such lovely produce.
And would I be more conscious of my water usage if I thought of myself as a guest every time I stepped into the shower? Speaking of water, what if we revered the water of the earth as we do the water in our church’s baptismal fonts? Would that not help us to be better guests of creation? What if we saw the food of the Earth as having the same holiness as the bread and wine of the Eucharist?
Farmer’s Market Produce
I believe it would raise our awareness of the sacred in all of creation and invite us to become both better guests and wiser hosts and hostesses of our Earth.
In my pursuit of being a reverent guest at God’s abundant banquet, I have expanded my daily spiritual practice of contemplating my framed print of “Earthrise.” Each evening as I retire, I will continue to give thanks for God’s wild and generous hospitality. And each morning, I will remember Jesus and pray to follow his example of being an excellent guest of the world and the planet Earth, our, island home.
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How do we approach the world with gratitude and delight even in the midst of the most challenging situations? What if gratitude is more than an emotion? What can we do to bring more gratitude into our daily lives?
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by Christine Sine, as originally published here
Tom and I are back from our retreat time. My reading for our days away included part of Norman Wirzba’s wonderful book Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating. I have been reflecting on the meaning of communion and thought and his comment:
Eating is about extending hospitality and making room for others to find life by sharing in our own…. Eating is an invitation to enter into communion and be reconciled with each other. To eat with God at the table is to eat with the aim of healing and celebrating the memberships of creation…. Food is a gift to be gratefully received and generously shared. (11)
Reflecting on this statement has brought back many memories for me of meals shared and friendships forged. Hospitality has become one of the most important aspects of my life and will as many of you know be the central theme for sharing on this blog over the next few months.
Enjoying Ethiopian meal at the Mustard Seed House
I still remember vividly when, several years ago, our good friends Melody and Gil George cooked a wonderful Ethiopian meal for us. The delicious hot and spicy sauces were spooned onto platters spread with layers of the Ethiopian flatbread injera. More mounds of injera dotted the table waiting for us to tear off pieces with our fingers so that we could scoop up the wonderful berbere flavoured wots. By the end of the meal all that remained on the platter were broken pieces of injera soaked with the remains of the sauces.
As we gathered the empty platters I was struck by how much this meal must have resembled meals Jesus ate with his disciples and those other friends of his – the tax collectors and prostitutes. Bread was far more than an adjunct to their meals, it was the very heart of their shared life together. The bread was broken so that people could share together the nourishment they needed to sustain life. And as the bread was broken there was implicit in the act, a sharing of hospitality, of togetherness and of community. Anybody who ate from their table, friend or stranger, rich or poor, young or old would enter into this shared community.
I was suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling that in eating together in this way we had shared in the communion of Christ’s body.
Contrast this to a church I was in recently in which the elements of the Eucharist were passed around in prepackaged sterile containers filled with a wafer of bread and a sip of grape juice. The only experience we shared together were those sounds we made as we ripped the covers off the communion elements. And even those were muted by our embarrassment at disturbing the quiet atmosphere of the moment. No wonder the congregation hurried away afterward with barely a thought for those with whom they had shared the pews.
I wonder how much we limit the celebration of our faith by partaking of the bread and the wine of communion in a sterile environment that disconnects us from the enjoyment of God in the midst of everyday life? For most of us, the celebration of the bread and the wine of the Eucharist no longer draws us into the wonder of communion with Christ and the intimacy of enjoying his presence in all of life’s celebrations and struggles. In fact, often it disconnects us.
I love Sara Miles’ book Take This Bread, in which she too grapples with the meaning of communion in the midst of everyday life. “It wasn’t a private meal,” she reflects.
“The bread on that Table had to be shared with everyone in order for me to really taste it. And sharing it meant I was going to be touching Christ’s body at St Gregory’s… Looking into Christ’s eyes outside the church through the cheery yuppie with the sports car and the veiled Muslim clerk at Walgreens. Listening to Christ’s voice in other churches… I was going to get communion, whether I wanted it or not, with people I didn’t necessarily like.” (97)
For the early church, communion was about celebrating the great feast of life together, not just with each other but also with God who gave this gift of life to all who shared in the meal. Hospitality was central to faith because was a reminder of the fact that in the sharing of food Christ was present in our midst. More than that, as all sat down together the barriers between rich and poor, slave and free, male and female were dissolved. The sharing of meal opened a doorway to the wonders of God’s eternal world in which we will one day all feast together at the great banquet celebration of God.
I think it is time we rediscovered the true hope and celebration of communion as it was understood by early followers of Christ. What a wonderful hope we look forward to every time we share a meal and take time to recognize that Christ sits down at the table with us. As we pass round the food it is his life that we are sharing. It is his life that nourishes our bodies and our spirits, drawing us together into a community of love and mutual care in which once more all barriers are broken down and we share together of the abundance and shalom of God’s kingdom.
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