Ohio!

The last couple of days have been interesting! I left Niagara Falls on Thursday 6/29 and rode to central Ohio where I stayed at Lake Wapusun Campground in Shreve, OH that is run by my wife's cousins, Mark & Lisa Everitt. The night there was rough!! Right after I made camp, a storm front came through about 8:30pm and it RAINED and THUNDERED until 7:00am. My little 2 person REI tent is a CHAMP! I emerged nice and dry. However, I had to pack wet again. (It seems like it's becoming routine!) - see the reflection on packing wet 

  

Nonetheless, the ride to Toledo on 6/30 was outstanding! The weather was not too hot, not too cool, not raining. I rode to Signature Harley Davidson, where I met up with General Manager, Kris Friar (another of Kelly's cousins). I was able to spend the evening with Kris and she took me to Tony Packo's, a famous Hungarian Food place in Toledo, OH. I stayed over at Kris' and left the next morning. Guess what... another storm came through! At least this time I wasn't in the tent! ;)

  

I can't help but think about how we "receive" others today. I was fortunate enough to be received by Kelly's family, offering me shelter and hospitality. It was wonderful to catch up with Kris and have fun eating at Tony Packo's and touring around Toledo. The gift of hospitality is a spiritual gift. The willingness to open our hearts and homes to the stranger, (in this case the wayward biker that happens to be family), is something that we are called to do as Christians. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Deuteronomy 10:19 tells us to "love the stranger, for you were a stranger in Egypt." This attitude of welcome is echoed throughout scripture. My favorite verse about reception and welcome is Hebrews 13:2, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." (NIV) Reception isn't new in the Church. The way a fellowship or community of faith grows is by reception... the welcome of others into the body of Christ and the household of God. The practice is so important to who we are as Christian people, St. Benedict made it a main part of his "Rule" for monastic life. "Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ, because He will say: "I was a stranger and you took Me in" (Mt 25:35). And let due honor be shown to all, especially to those "of the household of the faith" (Gal 6:10) and to wayfarers." (The Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 52)

Sometimes, the way we are received translates into the type of relationship we will eventually have - whether it will produce good fruit. If we are not received well, of if something happens in the initial "getting to know you" period, the relationship gets off to a rocky start and will need much tending and repair, if given the opportunity. If we are received well, and allowed to be who we are... trusted and welcomed in, then we find we become part of the other as the relationship begins. If the relationship is nurtured and grows, it becomes a sacramental reflection of God's love to the world.

Challenge to Self: Evaluate my relationships, both family, parish, friends. Tend and repair the ones that need work if able.

Challenge to Trinity: Create a Welcome/Newcomer ministry that will tend to the way someone is welcomed into our presence, ensuring that each and every person is valued and is receiving an example of God's unrestricted love from us. This is an important aspect of ministry that we are missing!