Hospitality is not...
...providing the perfect meal in the perfect home by the perfect hostess. Unless of course, you happen to be appearing on an episode of Come Dine With Me. In real life, people don't hold up score cards in the taxi on the way home.
...a luxury that comes when you hit high roller status. Some friends of mine recently moved into a beautiful new house with a fantastic conservatory, beautiful garden and multiple bathrooms. Spending time there is a pleasure. But no more of a pleasure than it was in their two-up, two-down, farm labourers cottage. The warmth of the welcome comes from who they are, not where they live or how much they spend on the food that they serve.
...a function of gender or personality.
...optional
Hospitality is... The ability to welcome and graciously serve guests and strangers.
Our English word "hospitality" shares the same meaning as the words hospital or hospice. This reminds us that hospitality has to do with care giving and healing.
In New Testament Greek, the word for hospitality is philoxenia. This combines two words 'phileo' which means love, and 'xenos' which means stranger. So literally, 'love of stranger'. A stranger isn't just someone you don't yet know. In a sense, strangers are those who are disconnected from basic relationships. Hospitality is about turning our lives towards those who are isolated, listening well to those who rarely have a voice.
It's really about inclusion. It is about including others into our lives and our network of relationships.
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