Let
mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to
strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without
knowing it.
Hebrews
13:1-2
SHOW HOSPITALITY: YOU MAY ENTERTAIN ANGELS!
Christ is the supreme example
of love. When I reflect on the meaning of that and on these verses in
Hebrews, I think of Ida, an elderly woman in our former church in
Iowa. In the years I knew Ida she held no "important"
positions in church such as elder, committee chair or even Sunday
school teacher. But Ida, an avid quilter and a very warm and loving
person, displayed the gift of hospitality to friends and strangers
alike. Many foreign students at the University of Iowa were
entertained in her modest home and through her experienced the love
of Christ. The following was written for a church service, after her
death, in which we celebrated her life:
We are ever so much like a
patchwork quilt-- each of a unique color, each a unique pattern, each
a unique texture and yet all a part of a whole. Separate from one
another it is difficult to conceive how such a motley group of
materials could be pieced together as a unit; yet, when knit together
by the common thread of Your Grace and Love, we form a quilt, a
community of unique beauty, purpose and function which surpasses that
of any single patch.
(written
by Mike Massanari - April, 1984)
Loving
God, help us each to use our unique gifts to reach out in your love.
Lois
Massanari
from
the 1995 Lenten Devotional
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