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From I to We 

Rene Paquin

Luke 14:12-14

He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

At First Trinity, we say, “all are welcome” a lot.  And welcome is a good start. But welcome is a relationship that moves in one direction, from the person who is welcoming to the person receiving the welcome.  It does not help us move to the the place where we stop thinking of ourselves as “I” but  rather as part of a “We”.

For me practicing hospitality is an important part of who I am.  It is how I understand my relationships with others, and how I find my place in the community. For me, hospitality is not only welcoming my neighbors, but it is creating a relationship.  It’s knowing others.  It’s showing love in a way that words cannot.  

There is something about practicing hospitality that changes our relationships.  From I to We.

In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck describes hospitality in the work camps of the great depression.  He tells of women sharing their blankets, and men sharing their food. “This is the beginning—from ‘I’ to ‘we’” he tells the reader. 

From I to We.

Is the difference between charity and hospitality being in relationship with our neighbors? Does it bring us all into a deeper relationship with God?  

From I to We.

Most Hospitable God,  help us to see our neighbors through your eyes.  Give us the courage to live in a deeper relationship with our brothers and sisters, and open our hearts to share in the sorrows and joys of living as “we”.  Amen.