Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part
of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When Abraham
saw them, he ran from his tent to meet them. He bowed facedown on the ground
before them and said, “Sir, if you think well of me, please stay awhile with
me, your servant. I will bring some water so all of you can wash your
feet. You may rest under the tree, and I will get some bread for you so
you can regain your strength. Then you may continue your journey.” Genesis 18:1-5
Thinking of hospitality as a major
theme in a literary work may seem odd to modern readers. In Homer's world,
however, hospitality is essential. Fagles and Knox refer to hospitality as a
dominant part of "the only code of moral conduct that obtains in the
insecure world of The Odyssey." Cliff Notes
It may see a bit odd for an English teacher to be
quoting Cliff Notes early Saturday morning, but remember I have approximately
176 Odyssey essays (thesis, support, detail, support, detail, conclusion) to
grade this weekend. And 46 character sketches. And 46 final exams. And 308 game
board evaluations. And 17 biome
community service project proposals. And I know I assigned all of this work but
I have pretty good rubrics and actually I enjoy each and every single paper
because it is a conversation of sorts with a student that I have grown to know
and love over the semester, and I am so very, happy happy sometimes with the
depth and articulation of the thinking. It is just the endlessness of the
stacks that I am hauling around that weighs on my mind. And major themes.
Telemachus saw Athene (disguised as a visitor, Mentes, chief of the
Taphians) long before
any one else did. He caught sight of her and went straight to the gate,
for he was vexed that a stranger should be kept waiting for admittance. He took her right hand in his own and
said, "Welcome, to our house, and when you have partaken of food you shall tell us what you have come
for." He led the way as he spoke, and
Athene followed him. He conducted her to a richly decorated seat under which he
threw a cloth of damask. There was a footstool
also for her feet, and he set another
seat near her for himself, away from the suitors, that she might not be annoyed while eating by their
noise and insolence. (1.118-134)
And Abraham did a great
job of hospitality. He had Sarah prepare loaves of bread from twenty quarts of
fine flour and killed his finest calf and served it up cooked in curds and
milk. And this hospitality was a great
example for the LORD conversing with Himself, “I
have chosen him so he would command his children and his descendants to live
the way the Lord wants
them to, to live right and be fair.” Hospitality is right and fair. We are all
sojourners on this earth, this insecure world.
And I may grumble
about a lot of things, but inviting others into my home is not one of them. Nor
doing dishes. Somehow it fills me with happiness. And maybe even the closely
correlated and quite necessary trip to Fry’s, which has the added bonus of
announcing to me on the bottom of the receipt that I saved over 40%, which is a
quiet little game I play, two or three times a week. And I am about to head on
over, before swim practice this morning.
Man, what a privilege
it has been to share our table with so many people, Even just this week, the
candlelit conversations bring a sense of wonder at what a delight it all is.
And how I long for
this to be true: All the believers
were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was
their own, but they shared everything they had. What a joy it will be to hear
the words of The King, ‘Come, you who are
blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since
the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I
was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked
after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
And I wonder how many
angels have walked through the bright blue front door.
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