The Spirit of Hospitality

Nothing is more nourishing for soul than hospitality. The friendly, generous reception of a visitor or stranger can bring an energy and presence that lives forever. No one has been more of an example of hospitality than my wife’s aunt, Margaret Thurmond. Aunt Margaret adopted me as her nephew the very second I crossed the threshold of her New Jersey home some 25 years ago. She passed away last month on Christmas Eve, her wedding anniversary. Even though she is no longer physically with us, she leaves behind a soul-nourishing energy in the lives of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people she touched and taught throughout her lifetime. In turn, these people have the opportunity to pass on her energy to the people they touch.

Aunt Margaret grew up in the segregated south of the 20s and 30s. This society and its institutions were deliberately designed to send her the message: YOU ARE NOT WELCOME! She was considered a nobody. She was considered less than human and undeserving of free movement in public spaces or full participation in the social order of the United States. In her childhood, white families would dress in their Sunday best to picnic at lynchings which were a form of popular, public entertainment.

Yet for all the ways that she was shown and told that she was not welcome, that was not the message she passed on. Aunt Margaret often said, “everyone is a child of God…no one was ever made to be mistreated.” Her life and leadership might be something we decide to follow during these days of building walls, excluding people from our spaces based on what they look like, how they speak, who they worship or love and so on.

If Aunt Margaret can choose the nourishing spirit of hospitality despite being shown anything but hospitality, we most surely can choose to be welcoming and open also. Her leadership and approach to life is just what we need today!

Be well,

Bill