For the last three weeks I have been leading a class on Sunday evenings on the topic of hospitality as a spiritual practice. In the early planning for this class, another of our ministers pointed out that the Greek word "xenos" means "stranger, guest and host"…….one word, three fairly distinct meanings, at least in our culture. This definition, and its seemingly diverse meanings,  has led to some lively discussions both in my class and in other conversations.

How often do you consider yourself a "stranger"? What does that word conjure up for you? Most often people respond with words like….fear, anxiety, protection. Most of us don’t choose to put ourselves in situations where we are the stranger or will encounter the stranger.

What about "guest"? Do you enjoy being a guest? Or does it bring discomfort for the expectation in implies?Do you enjoy having guests at your home, your table, in your work place? How do you prepare your home…and your heart…for the guest? Is it different from the way you prepare for the stranger?

Then there is "host". Do you enjoy being a host or does it carry with it some of the same anxieties that encounters with strangers might bring?

How we answer these questions depends on so many things……whether we are introverts or extroverts, our age, our sex, our family background, and countless other factors. But make no mistake about it, the scriptures do call us to be welcoming to one another, whether stranger, guest or host. Matthew writes:"
"I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me." Or I was a guest and you welcomed me…..or a host.

Perhaps the gift of this multiple meaning is that in reality we are always one of these…stranger, guest,  host…in all our daily living. We are guests on this Sacred planet. We are hosts to the presence of one another. We are strangers sometimes to ourselves. But in these relationships that have give and take, push and pull, we do a dance that mirrors our human connection with the Ground of All Being…..the Holy who welcomes us and is home for us.

Xenos…..who would have known that this small Greek word could have such power and such attraction?