Monday, August 20, 2012

A Few Short Examples of Hospitality

When two or three are gathered together ... we have opportunities of experiencing the Divine.
Opportunities to experience hospitality abound while cruising. Here are a few examples from the past week.
Hospitality can be as simple as meeting new people and inviting them aboard or sharing books and information.
Hospitality can also be directed from one group of people to another. As we were anchored in Fisherman Bay, Lopez, here are a few experiences from there:
   - Lopez Village not only has public restrooms available, they also have a public shower (suggested donation $2), what a great gift for travelers/voyagers/pilgrims!
   - The Lopez Library provides visitor passes to be able to check out books while visiting on the island.
   - And lastly a church experience: while wandering around the Village we noticed two churches in the village: the Community Church and the Episcopal church. While inland, Christ the King meets at the Lopez School, and the Catholic and Lutheran (ELCA) congregations share the Center Church (Catholic services are Saturday evenings, while ELCA services are Sunday mornings).
   Since we had experienced the Village, we decided to see another part of the island and attended the ELCA service on Sunday morning. The walk was about an hour from the Galley restaurant dock (approximately 3 miles?). The walk was beautiful through farm/ranch country that reminded us of Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho. We were well-received, enjoyed worshiping with this congregation, and after the service we were offered a ride back to the Galley dock. While ready and prepared to walk, we graciously received the ride!
Whereever you are this week, I hope you find opportunities to experience hospitality: both in the giving and in the receiving, and in the process glimpse the Divine.
Blessed Be,
Joel

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