My last post sparked some interesting comments (see previous post and comments) about entertaining... got me thinking about the differences between entertaining and hospitality.

Songbird's stay-at-home theory (that rates of entertaining have gone down as two-career homes have become more prevalent) is interesting, and there's probably something to it. It's an irony though, in that I think the more you do it, the less effort it is, and the less of a production it is. It just becomes a part of family life. I think about Quotidian Grace's story about her father from the Advent book--he welcomed into their home a woman who was down on her luck, on Christmas Day. Wow, that's radical hospitality. We all know people who just collect folks along the way. I'm not feeling nudged in quite that way, but I do think it's biblical.

Incidentally, I got this captivating idea that every month we'd invite 8 different people from the church to our house to share a meal together. Give some intentional thought to people and groups who might be comfortable with one another, but otherwise, go down the directory from A to Z. Not surprisingly, my introverted husband balked at that ;-)

I have noticed myself becoming less hard-nosed about certain work/home boundaries. Whereas before I would meticulously screen my calls and not answer church calls if it was not "time" to do so, I find myself becoming more available--answering the phone, even if it's my day off, especially if I know it's something that can be dispensed within a few moments. Obviously if I/we are engaged in something specific, I don't interrupt that, but otherwise... eh. I was expending more energy maintaining the boundaries than it would have taken just to deal with the five-minute e-mail or phone call. It was stressing me out, all this fretting about the slippery slope: If I venture down this path, what's next? Never taking my vacation?!? Workaholism?!? Ulcers?!?

I sorta feel like hospitality is similar. I became a mother and a minister the same year. It was so important to me to establish good baseline habits, and yes, to protect family time!!!! that I think I cut myself off from opportunities to let others in to the family time. We had such a delightful time with Mamala living with us, and that really helped me see that the nuclear family can be seen as the end-all be-all, us against the world, when in fact, hospitality is more inclusive than that.

And I am assuming, perhaps erroneously, that everyone understands I'm talking about hospitality as a Christian discipline, which is simultaneously about:
-simplicity: come as you are, you are welcome here
AND
-abundance: there is enough at our table, and you, our guest, are worth our good effort.

In other words, Christian hospitality is not an ostentatious Martha Stewart consume-a-thon. And in that sense, it should not depend on having someone at home slaving away for hours and hours. Although I do acknowledge that Songbird is right--it does take time.

As with most things I post, these are thoughts in progress.