THE INTIMACY OF EATING TOGETHER

'Isn't a meal together the most beautiful expression of our desire to be given to each other in our brokenness? The table, the food, the drinks, the words, the stories: are they not the most intimate ways in which we not only express the desire to give our lives to each other, but also to do this in actuality?'

Henri JM Nouwen, Life of the Beloved, p.65.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MEALS

'The people you eat with are the people you belong to.'
Lauren F Winner, The Dangers of Christian Practice, p.15. 

A CHRISTIAN'S HOME IS NOT THEIR CASTLE

'Our homes are not our castles. Indeed, they are not even ours.'
Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes with a House Key, p.100. 

REPLICATING MIRACLES TODAY

'We love the miraculous stories of Jesus, his feeding of the five thousand, his divine healing, his contagious grace. And we miss the most obvious things about these stories: that we are meant to replicate them in ordinary, nonmiraculous ways.' 

Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes with a House Key, p.100. 

PARENTING & HOSPITALITY

'...if we have had a ministry to the lost, and if our children have seen us embracing our neighbors who are struggling, or hardened, or falling under the weight of sin and tragedy, perhaps, just perhaps, our children will trust us with their deep things. Perhaps they will remember that we embraced our neighbors and strangers, that we loved them and prayed for them, and that we were not jostled or unsettled to share block parties or BBQs, our churches and our homes, with troubled people. Perhaps our love of those image bearers, all of them, especially the difficult ones, will be a pledge to our children that the mosaics of their private lives are safe with us.'

Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, Openness Unhindered, p.158.

HOSPITALITY

'Hospitality begins with loving the stranger. So the first reality check to do id this: if everybody at your table is on the same page and from the same side of the tracks, you aren't practicing hospitality. You may need to do a heart-check here as well. It is easier to feel safe in the company of people who are just like you, who struggle and identify with the same things you do. But creating a safe space is not the ultimate point or purpose of Christian hospitality.'

Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, Openness Unhindered, p.153.

HOSPITALITY

'Did anyone actually like adult social life? Ping-Pong brought laughter as respectable entertainment did not. He and Deary wasted their many-paned dining room on dinner parties instead of ongoing games and music.' 

Annie Dillard, The Maytrees, p.102. 

HOSPITALITY

'...Good hospital-ity is making your home a hospital. The idea is that friends and family and the wounded and weary people come to your home and leave helped and refreshed. And yet too often hospitality is a nerve-racking experience for hosts and guests alike. Instead of setting our guests at ease, we set them on edge by telling them how bad the food will be, and what a mess the house is, and how sorry we are for our kids' behaviour. We get worked up and crazy busy in all the wrong ways because we are more concerned with looking good than with doing good. So instead of our encouraging those we host, they feel compelled to encourage us with constant reassurances that everything is just fine.' 

Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy, p.41. 

HOSPITALITY

'God's guest list includes a disconcerting number of poor and broken people, those who appear to bring little to any gathering except their need. The distinctive quality of Christian hospitality is that it offers a generous welcome to the "least," without concern for advantage or benefit to the host. Such hospitality reflects God's greater hospitality that welcomes the undeserving, provides the lonely with a home, and sets a banquet table for the hungry.'

Christine Pohl in Michael S Beates, Disability & The Gospel, p.142.

LONELINESS

'Should we ever feel truly lonely if we never ate alone?'
Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man, p.90.

HOSPITALITY

'It is one of the greatest feelings known to humans, the feeling of being the host, of hosting people, of being the person to whom they come for food and drink and company.'

Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird, p.204.

HOSPITALITY

'Our homes need to be open. Because our hearts are open. And our hearts are open because God's heart is open to us.'

John Piper, This Momentary Marriage, p.122.

HOSPITALITY

'...a runny dessert with friends is better than the perfect dessert eaten alone.'

Julia Jones, A Cup of Cold Water, p.25.

HOSPITALITY

'Hospitality tends to be given a low priority as it's not seen as being of any great importance or effectiveness in the kingdom of God. But I believe it is vital for the healthy life of a local fellowship. We live in a society that increasingly tends towards being individualistic and fragmented. Think about individuals, perhaps those who live alone, or who are on the fringe of church life. Many of these have no meaningful contact wth other Christians apart from church services or meetings. So what do we do? Perhaps we try and include some "fellowship events" in our church timetable. We may term these "fellowship" meetings or events but often they're little more than polite and pleasant chit-chat. Often they don't acheive the aim of getting to know one another and engaging at a deeper level. The early Christians met together daily and so could share as each had need. Often we don't really know one another well enough to be aware when there is a need, be it practical, emotional or spiritual.'

Julia Jones, A Cup of Cold Water, p.7.

HOSPITALITY

‘Without communal eating, no human group can hold together.’
Christopher Alexander et al, A Pattern Language, p.697.

HOSPITALITY

'The call is clear. If we are to walk in the way of Jesus, it is not the nuclear family that we need to promote but the hospitable family. We do not need people who love family values nearly as much as we need families who value love for people.'

Thomas E. Schmidt, Striaght & Narrow?, p.170.