radical hospitality.

as i write, i'm hanging out in the sitting room of the convent, waiting for printer drivers to download (painfully slowly) on one of the sister's laptops, and listening to a room full of guests converse in acoli and madi. it's more than an hour later than we normally eat supper, but the food is not yet ready. well, that's not exactly true. some of the food is ready. the portion of food which would serve the eight or ten of us who were expected for supper (myself and the sisters who are around today) - that food is ready. but the portion which will serve all of us plus the two carloads of unexpected guests who showed up right before supper - that food is not yet finished cooking.

the nuns i live with, who belong to the order of the sacred heart of jesus (based in sudan), practise radical hospitality. i've rarely seen them turn down a request, and there's always space for another person at the table (even if it sometimes means that we eat in shifts, or an hour later). in the last hour and a half, we've expanded the menu and made up beds in multiple guest rooms. we've served sodas and cooked rice. we will eat soon, and there will be room at the table for everyone who is here, even those who weren't expected.

may i challenge you, the next time you think about hospitality, to consider moments such as this as the normal form of it?