A Source of Comfort

Hospitality that Provides Healing and Rest

Évariste Carpentier, The Foreigners (1887)

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Dear friends,

For over half my life now, I have been creating a home with my husband, and one thing is true in it all: the little things matter. As our college students trickle home this week, we have been channeling our expectations into painting walls, rearranging furniture, refreshing bedding, and stocking the pantry and fridge to welcome them home. This Christmas will be the first time all six of us have been together since May, and we intend to enjoy the respite.

These homecomings are common this time of year, although not all will require home projects. I read earlier this week that an estimated 119 million people(!) are expected to travel to the U.S. during the holiday season this year.¹ In all of the coming and going, many of us will host gatherings or overnight guests in our homes or stay in someone else’s—perhaps both—causing any number of feelings, from enthusiasm to stress, excitement to dread. As hosts, we might fret about our place settings, chipped cabinets, relational dynamics, or the smallness of our home. As guests, we may struggle to relax or fit into someone else’s space, routines, or attention.

Culturally, our ideas of hospitality often focus more on material, such as having the right decor or crafting the perfect meal. While these things certainly influence an experience and can communicate care, are they the primary metrics? I expect beneath all of the effort, money, and time expended during these final weeks of the year, what many of us crave most in our gathering together is a sense of comfort, joy, and rest. This, of course, is the very nature of the Christ coming to us, but how does this nature manifest in our hospitality? How does our hospitality extend beyond our homes?