HOSPITALITY!

   We highly value the trait of hospitality. It is, without exaggeration, one of the things thast makes life worth the living. When someone opens up their hearts and homes to you, seeking nothing in return but your company, or when you welcome them into your little piece of the world, what joy is born! I think the people I admire most are those who are hospitable; it is a character trait we should instill in our children and grandchildren.
   Nor am I the only one who thinks so: the Bible itself, when listing the qualifications for elders and deacons in the Church, demands that the candidate be, among things, "a lover of hospitality". And the Old Testament patriarch Abraham, when receiving the angels on their way to the cities of the valley, entreated them, "Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and conmfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on." Now you can go to any hotel and find a place to wash up, to lay down, or to grab something to eat; but that last part- comfort your hearts--you can't buy that anywhere! It is a gift from family and friends. And that's what hospitality is all about.
 
   I am so glad I married a woman who feels the same way I do in this. Wendy loves to plan, prepare and host family & friends get-togethers, whether holiday celebrations, cook-outs, dinners or birthday parties. And I am glad to help out in any way I can because I know it brings her great satisfaction to see our guests leave happy and to know everyone had a good time.
   Growing up, we weren't what you'd call rich. But we had rich times when we all got together! My Mom was the Queen of the Kitchen and I was one of her little minions. As a little boy, I'd help peel the potatoes, and from my teen years I'd help her prepare the Thanksgiving meal by removing the turkey neck and giblets from its barely thawed out body cavities. And of course I'd peel & chop the turnips (or rutabagas, if you please ). Thus was my introduction to hospitality.

   But if Thanksgiving belonged to Mom, Dad owned New Years' Eve!  He'd head on down to his friends at Pilgrim Bar-B-Q of Ansonia, CT, and pick up racks n' racks of mouth-watering spare ribs, steak fries, and chicken wings. There'd be like tons of food! My sister Linda Thompson (God rest her soul) loved Christmas: she would start shopping around September and buy gifts for literally everyone she knew and a few folks she didn't! She'd see that the house was decked out and get her troops baking cookies to roll out a warm holiday welcome for her guests (like me).
   Planning and preparation are great, but sometimes gatherings just spring up spontaneously. I remember back when we lived in Naugatuck, some summer Saturday afternoon we were just hangin' out on the front porch. One by one this brother or that sister then this nephew showed up - uninvited, but still welcome- and the whole thing turned into a spur-of-the-moment porch party. We brewed like five pots of coffee that day! If I'm not mistaken, there was a brief shower followed by a magnificent rainbow. Behold, how good and how pleasant when brethren dwell together in unity!
 

Pool party at Miriam's, the Hostess with the Mostest!

   Not only is it a great joy of life to welcome people into our homes, but it is an honor and a blessing to be welcomed into the homes of others. Now I have been in houses where it's so uptight you feel like you're in a museum and you're afraid to touch anything lest you break it or dirty it....and you don't dare ask for seconds! But my kind of people are the ones who make  you feel as if you belong there, like you're part of the family. You've heard the expression, "Mi casa es su casa"?  We like to go to places we can be ourselves- and our hosts can be themselves.

   My wife and I don't do a lot of "entertaining"; we don't throw lavish parties just to throw parties. Among the Native American peoples of the Pacific Northwest was a custom called the potlatch. It was in a way a huge competition between the chiefs to see who could throw the biggest bash! But hospitality needn't be extravagant, nor even expensive....'cuz it ain't about the money, it's about the love. (Anyone who wishes to show me love with pie & coffee, I accept!)

   Think about it: how would life be if no one invited you over, and no one came over to visit you? It would basically suck. Hospitality is really at the core of our society, and makes everything better. It's the way things are supposed to be. And it is one of the things we love about life.

   Those are my thoughts....what are yours?