Sometimes I read something; and it makes sense of lots of stuff!
Many people I know struggle to offer hospitality to others – other do so frequently, enjoying the privilege of blessing others.
My wife Alison and I are able to do hospitality. Interesting that my parents almost never had friends in their home; whether for meals, of even just a tea or coffee. In contrast, Alison’s parents frequently did so – I had a lot of catching up to do!
I read the section ‘Commercialized Hospitality’ in Tom Chester’s book A Meal with Jesus. This made a lot of sense!
The Old and New Testaments indicate simple practical hospitality was commonplace. It still true in many cultures, but less so in the UK and the US.
The ‘Commercialized Hospitality’ section starts with some statistics; that there has been a 1/3rd reduction in the number of families eating together in the past 30 years; at the same time there has been a 45% decline in entertaining friends. Also, more than half of those families who do eat together do so in front of the television. And, new homes increasingly do not have dining rooms.
Historically ordinary households, then monasteries, were open to welcome travellers. In pre-industrial times, hospitality was classless. But, from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, restaurants were developed in France, such that people could dine publicly in isolation! In the subsequent decades, dining out and entertaining and hospitality have become increasingly expensive and ostentatious.
The section concludes that hospitality has become something of a performance art; and we have lost the intimacy of a shared meal.
Time perhaps to re-capture the beauty and simplicity of hospitality that is truly for everyone!