What does welcome look like? For me this week, welcome looked like a hospice family member who was so worried that I would slip on the icy sidewalk leading into their home that she placed a walkway of towels on the path. When I pulled my car up to the sidewalk, I smiled. With all that going on in this person’s life, she stopped and thought of my safety. I felt like a very important person walking this red carpet laid out just for me.
Since I walked this sacred path, I have been thinking about welcome and hospitality. How can I welcome someone else with this much love and compassion? What opportunities do I have to lay out a path of towels to keep someone else from falling? Who needs to know they are a very important person and loved beyond measure? How can I live a life of true hospitality? While we all continue to think on these things, I invite you to pray with me.
Welcoming God, Open our hearts to each other this week. Remind us to look out for those walking alone and invite them to walk with us. Slow us down so we can see where we can clear a safe path for another. And when we are the ones being welcomed, give us grateful hearts to embrace the compassion we have been offered. Amen.