I love the questions you ask me as a reader and the snapshots of some of your own experiences of extending hospitality to strangers. To me, they add up to an expansive and scalable notion of hospitality. One of my favorite parts of your post begins with the exchange of smiles between you and the older Muslim woman in the public restroom. I had a similar experience a few months back. A Muslim woman wearing a hijab made eye contact with me and smiled on a public bus. There was a knowing electricity: each of us seemed to know what the other was about. In retrospect, this silent, momentary encounter has served as my deepest affirmation of my calling as an (anonymous) public person.
The thoughtful and empathetic way in which you summarize my piece ā thank you. And Iām thrilled that you used it and found it helpful. Your piece has given me a couple of ideas for a follow-up!
This concept was presented many years ago by the founder of L'Arche, Jean Vanier, who said "It is not enough to accept persons with disabilities, we must welcome and include them in all aspects of life." I have observed in my own extended family that hospitality toward those is more likely to come naturally if it begin from early days and it helps if one lives in a diverse community.
Thank you -- and I actually should have included persons with disabilities in my list. After publishing this I was thinking about how it's so much easier to act on these ideas of hospitality when we live in diverse places. I grew up in a totally white, Christian, small town environment and yet became quite sensitive to the difficulties encountered by the rare individuals who came into it from the outside, or were from different ethnicities but not necessarily visible. Our families and peers have a lot to do with the attitudes we develop at a young age, don't you think? A word lacking in my essay is "curiosity."
I love the questions you ask me as a reader and the snapshots of some of your own experiences of extending hospitality to strangers. To me, they add up to an expansive and scalable notion of hospitality. One of my favorite parts of your post begins with the exchange of smiles between you and the older Muslim woman in the public restroom. I had a similar experience a few months back. A Muslim woman wearing a hijab made eye contact with me and smiled on a public bus. There was a knowing electricity: each of us seemed to know what the other was about. In retrospect, this silent, momentary encounter has served as my deepest affirmation of my calling as an (anonymous) public person.
The thoughtful and empathetic way in which you summarize my piece ā thank you. And Iām thrilled that you used it and found it helpful. Your piece has given me a couple of ideas for a follow-up!
This concept was presented many years ago by the founder of L'Arche, Jean Vanier, who said "It is not enough to accept persons with disabilities, we must welcome and include them in all aspects of life." I have observed in my own extended family that hospitality toward those is more likely to come naturally if it begin from early days and it helps if one lives in a diverse community.
Thank you -- and I actually should have included persons with disabilities in my list. After publishing this I was thinking about how it's so much easier to act on these ideas of hospitality when we live in diverse places. I grew up in a totally white, Christian, small town environment and yet became quite sensitive to the difficulties encountered by the rare individuals who came into it from the outside, or were from different ethnicities but not necessarily visible. Our families and peers have a lot to do with the attitudes we develop at a young age, don't you think? A word lacking in my essay is "curiosity."
Sorry for typos, that's "begins from early days..."
Thank you so much for this.