practices and a whole way of life

i'm reading christine d. pohl's chapter in practicing theology, on the communal practice of hospitality. she says a couple of provocative things up front.

one is that 'hosts make room for those with no place.'

that was what I experienced most powerfully the year i worked on staff with franciscan brothers at the house of joseph, an emergency shelter in wilmington deleware. and it is also profoundly present in my parenting, thinking about all the ways that i offer hospitality in this sense to my kids. So much of what i do with and for them is related to making room for them.

the other is that 'focusing in depth on a single, central christian practice simultaneously opens windows onto a whole way of life.'

i suppose, going back to the first, that the question is what kind of room is made for those with no place. a place, in fact, where other practices that make up a way of life shaped by receiving the grace of god in christ. room, then, that is rooted in gratitude and self-giving, rather than resentment or careful counting of costs.

hmm. no conclusions here, but progress in going deeper into the questions that matter.

anon, and +peace

ps. i've not read it yet, but i should note that christine pohl's book length treatment of hospitality is called 'making room.'