By: Dr. Synesio Lyra, Jr.
One of the great imperatives Holy Scripture prescribes to God’s Covenant People pertains to the practice of hospitality. In the New Testament it appears as one of the qualifications for those who would be shepherds of God’s flock, though its implementation is also extended to the entire community of faith.
Among biblical illustrations and commands regarding hospitality, perhaps one of the best known and most quoted is found in Hebrews 13:2, following in the injunction: “Let mutual love continue” (v.1). The second verse, then, goes on to challenge: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” In the 16th verse of the same chapter the author also adds: “Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
Hospitality needs not be limited to the opening of homes for people to visit, or to inviting persons for a meal. Those things may happen but, more importantly, it is the opening of our hearts to others that truly counts. After all, caring is not something one does by assignment; it is an attitude originating in the heart.
To function in this regard, we need to develop the ability to offer someone a shoulder to cry, an undistracted ear to listen, and a hospitable heart. People, quite often, will be far more impacted by the personal touch than by what they hear in eloquent speeches or learn in a classroom. It is in those more intimate moments when one allows face to face encounters with other people that will make a more profound, indelible and impacting impression on them.
It has been my experience to see affirmed in real life, the much quoted statement of Henry David Thoreau’s, to the effect that “most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Behind the smiles and the exuberant, bubbly way several individuals conduct themselves, there may be a broken, bleeding heart, a troubled soul, a deeply hurt individual. As caring individuals we need to anticipate these realities as we talk with people, especially when we are so prone to pay inadequate attention to what they may be willing to reveal.
Apart from any physical hospitality, which is most appropriate and may significantly satisfy a need, we can also develop hospitable hearts toward those with whom we come in contact. Genuine caring becomes authentic when it is not limited to oral affirmations only; rather, it becomes incarnate in personal deeds such as our undivided attention, phone calls we make, personal notes we send, our taking extra time with a person, even our remembering sometime later to inquire about a condition or situation earlier made known to us by an individual or family. In contemporary society, few are the agencies where automation and anonymity have not yet taken over.
The personal touch is being lost in today’s society, though it is still quite real among a few. True caring must transcend all your good intentions. Are you just filling a role, or do you truly exhibit a hospitable heart?