"We look with uncertainty
Beyond the old choices for
Clear-cut answers
To a softer, more permeable aliveness
Which is every moment
At the brink of death;
For something new is being born in us
If we but let it.
We stand at a new doorway,
Awaiting that which comes……
Daring to be human creatures.
Vulnerable to the beauty of existence.
Learning to love."
                            Anne Hillman

As our community has been exploring what it means to offer radical hospitality, many of us have bumped our heads on our hardened hearts. We have come face-to-face with those places within us that have closed up shop, given up on certain people, refused to listen, turned our backs. It is a humbling experience. I have had more than one conversation about how difficult it is to be hospitable to those who badger us with their ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’, those who wear their certainty like armor, those who claim to have the answers with which God is most pleased. Most often, as the conversation plays out, we all realize that we, too, have done the same thing……I believe some might call it self-righteousness……and , if we are self-aware, we  see more similarity than differences in how we have waved our flags in certain situations.

‘Daring to be human creatures’ is risky, messy, work. It requires listening, openness, awareness, and the willingness to soften our hearts to the pain, the alienation, the loneliness, the vulnerabilities of others…and ourselves.

Calling upon the words of three Hebrew prophets,Jeremiah,Ezekiel and Joel,  David Haas has written a song that is a favorite of my worshiping community: "Deep within I will plant my law, not on stone, but in your heart. Follow me, I will bring you back, you will be my own, and I will be your God. I will give you a new heart, a new spirit within you, for I will be your strength."

Each day we are confronted with those with whom we disagree, politically, theologically, socially,morally. Perhaps their very presence in our lives is a gift, one that invites us not to hearts of stone, but hearts that are learning to love. For some, learning to love takes a lifetime. But with each new day, the Holy offers us another doorway…….and the strength to step through.