Hospitalbe Places!

Christine Pohl writes: "Welcoming places are comfortable and lived in. Even under difficult circumstances, they are settings in which people flourish. Although not necessarily beautifully maintained or decorated, they are cared for. Such places provide the people that inhabit them with shelter and sanctuary in the deepest sense of these words, not only with the shelter of physical buildings but also with the shelter of relationships.

In such places life is celebrated, yet the environment also has room for brokenness and deep disappointments. These places make faith and a hospitable way of life seem natural, not forced. Hospitable settings are often enhanced by the simple beauty of creation, where body and spirit are fed by attention to small details such as attractively prepared and good-tasting food, or flowers from a nearby garden. Hospitable places allow room for friendships to grow. Food, shelter, and companionship are all interrelated in these settings. In such environments, weary and lonely people can be restored to life."