The Resistance of Hospitality

The invitation to stay

          I’m watching and listening to movers moving. Surrounding me is the sound of laughter, talk, directions, the liftgate on the truck being raised and lowered, tape being pulled from rolls, and plastic wrapping being stretched. We’re moving. And it puts me to thinking about creating home… again… somewhere. The space we live in is temporary. But what we do with our space creates the experience of invitation, community, society, home. And regardless of how long we inhabit any particular space, when we move into it, we begin the spiritual practice of staying. That’s why we work to create the sense of home as much and as soon as we can.

          Watching the choreography of boxes and bodies, I’m reminded that moving isn’t just about relocation—it’s about reimagining belonging. And once, I believed our country moved in that same spirit. I used to think America was the place where people came to find and to create home, came to find their purpose, and it was the job of the people who lived here already to assist in that, however they could. That was my understanding from when I was tiny. It was taught to me in so many ways, from so many voices, growing down deeply into the level of expectation. Just the course of life… like there wasn’t a question. And people who didn’t treat newcomers that way, well, they were just missing the point of America.

          But it’s clear that there is a community of people who don’t think of America that way and have other voices telling them that this place is just for them. And then there are now even stronger voices that are saying even more. This isn’t a place just for them, but it is for them more than others to receive all the benefits. These new voices go beyond exclusion—they seek advantage, not just belonging. And as their true purpose becomes clearer, they seem to be gaining ground. And as their true purpose is seen more clearly, some are beginning a challenge and even a revolt.

          There will be a community, however, that never tires of creating home. They will continue to forge relationships, care and support those who need help. Theirs will be a resistance of hospitality. Their revolt will not be boisterous, but consistent in assuring the invitation to create a place of staying. They will express the love that inhabits the universe, that causes life, and whose demand for justice reaches beyond the privilege that some claim they own now. The Love that creates the home that won’t be temporary.