HOSPITALITY is not to change people, but to offer them a space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.
It is not to lead our neighbor into a corner where there are no alternatives left, but to open a wide spectrum of options for choice and commitment. It is not an educated intimidation of good books, good stories, and good works, but the liberation of fearful hearts so that the words can find roots and bear ample fruit.
It is not a method of making our God and our way into the criteria of happiness, but the opening of an opportunity for others to find their God and their way. The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness – not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter and discover themselves as created free; free to sing their own songs, speak their own languages, dance their own dances; free also to leave and follow their own vocations
-Henri Nouwen
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Thank you for sharing this. What a wonderful piece and certainly speaks to the great opportunity among people, places & organizations in creating a space of openness and trust.
Thanks Susan – it must really become a skill that we intentionally nurture!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Susan Wright, IISC Blog. IISC Blog said: What is Hospitality? http://t.co/B9HeMMC @IISCBlog [...]
[...] not make them feel welcome at all. They can issue an invitation and then do the bare minimum. Hospitality is about really tending to the people, ensuring that they feel cared for and have what they need to [...]