Stories

I was delighted to hear Dan Church speak this past Sunday, and it’s not because I got a Sunday off! Dan shared a story he heard on NPR about a photographer who was in Ethiopia who was moved by a story of a woman named “Amazing” being helped by a man named “Grace.” (Dan’s sermon is posted on the website.) Then, underneath all of this was Dan’s own story, as he shared with us some of his upbringing and Bible stories that moved him.

On top of that, I had just returned from the SUMYT Youth Retreat at Indianola where the theme of the camp was…stories. Rev. Jim Head-Corliss built his presentation around a children’s story, and as it true at every gathering of youth in our Conference there were “faith talks” in which youth share some of their stories – particularly something about how they have experienced God in their lives. For me the juxtaposition of all of this was an experience of God – a “thin place” – that is now incorporated into my story.

Then, on Monday evening Rev. John Haller, our coach who is leading us through the Beta-Vitality process, while speaking to a group of us gathered to discuss Radical Hospitality, started out by sharing some of his own…. story. For example, he shared with us about a young woman from a sorority (not being a “Greek” the particular sorority alluded me) invited him to attend the United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas. This woman eventually became his spouse, and he was then also connected to that Church for the rest of his life. He says that most of his best friends remain in that Church. And he shared with us about how he was once invited to a six week class about some of the fundamentals of faith (kind of like our Reconfirmation class) and how moved he was by the openness of the discussions – any question was allowed and everyone was welcome. He then went on his own theological quest that eventually led to ordination in the United Methodist Church. Both of these experiences changed his life.

We were also invited to share with each other about a time when we experienced hospitality. After he recognized that two minutes was not enough time and he gave us five more, I found myself sharing about when I was in 8th grade and going through a tough time in junior high, my mother kept encouraging me to go to the youth group at church. For the longest time I resisted – being introverted and wounded by other youth at school. Finally I agreed, but hesitated again when we arrived and I sat for quite a while in the car… crying. It took some courage and a very patient mother to get me out of the car and into the building and my life was never the same.

A couple of weeks ago Carol Sullivan brought a friend, Yisrael to our Sunday School class. It became apparent to us that he had an interesting “background,” he grew up Jewish while his partner was Christian and they have gone back and forth over their years together. This got us off topic, but then God in our lives is the topic, isn’t it? I have since decided that in the class each week a person will be invited to tell a little of his/her story. I sincerely want to hear these stories. And that is one of the cores of radical hospitality.

John Haller also told us a story of a pastor who was working on starting a new church. He went to a coffee shop and first put up a sign, “Let me tell you my story and I will buy you a cup of coffee.” There were no takers, for ten hours! Then he changed the sign, “If you buy me a cup of coffee I will listen to your story.” He said there was a line. I told the folks gathered on Monday night that I would even be more radically hospitable than that – my sign would say, “If you let me listen to your story I will buy you a cup of coffee,” that way I would avoid all the caffeine. But then, we may need to add a line item in the budget for that.

People are hungry to be heard. And the stories of people contain a wealth of spiritual insight and wisdom. For me, what makes hospitality “radical” is instead of inviting people to come to us, we feel the urgency to hear their stories, believing that our lives will be changed.

See you in worship. P.Jim