Hospitality To Strangers

I find it interesting (and have been greatly blessed) by the commandment central to all the great faiths of the world, “to show hospitality to strangers.” But last week I found myself railing against inhospitality. Jane and I had just taken a young student from China to her first trip to the university at which she had been accepted for study. We arrived at the appointed time and place only to find no one there. After finally solving that problem we discovered that when her classmates arrived at the airport their promised university escort who was to have met them there arrived about an hour late, had inadequate space for their luggage and had no apparent understanding of what it felt like to be stranded in a new country and get only recorded telephone messages when pleading for help. As an educator I railed, “Why can‘t universities ever learn the art of hospitality!” I have too often had assignments on university campuses only to find that no one knew where my materials for the workshop were stored, or where I was to stay or who could find me a key to my assigned guest suite that more than once had no bedding in place. Then a couple days ago all of that despair was disproved from being universally true of institutions of higher learning. I went to a board meeting for the Van Lunen Fellows program at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A driver was waiting for me at the airport. My beautiful room in the Prince Center was waiting, complete with welcome basket and a full agenda of activities was on the desk. Ah! Hospitality!

On further reflection I got in touch with the reality that my life has been one succession after another or people showing me hospitality. Even though I was part of a large family of nine children the people of my home congregation in rural Texas always opened their home to our entire family for Sunday dinners, wedding receptions, birthday parties and golden wedding observance Once when I was hitchhiking from Illinois to Texas a couple of young women from Mena Arkansas picked me up late in the day. In genuine purity of heart they expressed concern that I would be thumbing a ride in the dark. They offered to have me come to their home for dinner and a night’s sleep. When I was in an automobile accident in Oklahoma a complete stranger took a couple sibs and me in for medical care and got away before I even got his full name and address. Later on in that same trip (now continued by train) a stranger was concerned when it appeared I had no money (He was right.) and offered to buy us dinner in the train diner. When my family was home on leave from missionary service in Hong Kong families in 17 states took us in and housed, fed and welcomed us.

Hospitality around the world has consistently enveloped me. Once I was overtaken by a local gentleman in Peshawar Pakistan. He followed me down the street and asked me anxiously about a pakol (Arab cap) I had just bought. H e wanted to know where I had gotten it and what I had paid for it. Slowly he made it clear to me that he wanted to make sure that I had not been overcharged. He even told me that hospitality was essential to his belief system. Another gentleman in Brazil discovered late one night that one of my travel companions was having a birthday the next day. At ten o’clock at night he found a bakery that would have a nicely decorated birthday cake waiting for me in the morning. In Calcutta a total stranger learned of my interest in the arts of India and found a member of the India National Dance Troop to come to me and show me around. In Cairo I was nearly in trouble because I had been accidentally seated at a hotel table exclusively reserved for a very wealthy sheik. When the sheik’s personal aide (an Egyptian Coptic Christian) discovered me at his boss’s table he worked through his fear and I ended up sharing a delightful meal with the sheik!

The Bible says that by showing hospitality people have been found to be “ entertaining angels unaware”. In my case I have found myself as the one being entertained by angels unaware!