{"id":1607,"date":"2020-12-16T21:06:25","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T21:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=1607"},"modified":"2020-12-23T01:29:27","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T01:29:27","slug":"blessed-are-the-homesick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/16\/blessed-are-the-homesick\/","title":{"rendered":"Blessed Are the Homesick"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1607\" class=\"elementor elementor-1607\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3533db76 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3533db76\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-196bafa1\" data-id=\"196bafa1\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-555b997a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"555b997a\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-5f77bfe8\" data-id=\"5f77bfe8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61a3a399 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"61a3a399\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Homesick_cover-scaled.jpg?fit=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-2128\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Homesick_cover-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Homesick_cover-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Homesick_cover-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Homesick_cover-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Homesick_cover-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Homesick_cover-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Homesick_cover-scaled.jpg?w=2400&amp;ssl=1 2400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-624ffe45 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"624ffe45\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Blessed are the Homesick: Hospitality for Mobile Millennials<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7f8afec8 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7f8afec8\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-11b4cd56\" data-id=\"11b4cd56\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-44d1b640 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"44d1b640\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-4ef25d3\" data-id=\"4ef25d3\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-700be357 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"700be357\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The independent rootlessness of emerging adults presents potent opportunities for the practice of hospitality.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-67cec948 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"67cec948\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em>By Meredith Schultz<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-7a0feaff\" data-id=\"7a0feaff\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-41855dcc elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"41855dcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"output\" class=\"page-generator__output js-generator-output\"><p>S<em>hana Tovah!\u201d<\/em><\/p><p>It was Rosh Hashanah in Washington, D.C. I unexpectedly found myself on my neighbor\u2019s patio, ringing in the lunar New Year with a small gathering of his Jewish friends. Everyone was in his or her twenties, a bipartisan collection of government staffers, advocacy workers, and writers. California. Georgia. New Jersey. Everyone was from somewhere else.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>Our host interrupted the lively conversation to sing a blessing over the apples, honey, and wine. The cicadas sang along. Another guest prayed and cut the challah.<\/p><p>\u201cReligion is something practiced with the family, so it\u2019s hard to be away from family during the holidays,\u201d my neighbor said as he set out the feast. The brisket is marinated in a gallon of Coca-Cola\u2014his mother\u2019s special recipe. \u201cYou make do and start new traditions with other people who are in similar situations.\u201d<\/p><p>My neighbor is not alone. The federal city is full of sojourners. When I moved into my brownstone flat in the Eastern Market neighborhood last year, it was my third residence in as many years. My little Anglican church down the street announces newcomer\u2019s dinners and farewell parties in the same breath. So while I can navigate the concrete arteries of Washington with increasing ease, I cannot shake the sense that I am, as T.S. Eliot says, \u201cfamiliar with the roads and settled nowhere.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>Diagnosing Homesickness<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-28e5c93d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"28e5c93d\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6f216461\" data-id=\"6f216461\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-73f66970 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"73f66970\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-533c87c0\" data-id=\"533c87c0\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-205baf12 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"205baf12\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FF-Quotation-1.png?fit=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-520\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FF-Quotation-1.png?w=309&amp;ssl=1 309w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FF-Quotation-1.png?resize=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7cfa6104 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7cfa6104\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>While many young people form local \u201curban tribes\u201d of their peers, they are increasingly separated from the tightest ties of community\u2014blood, marriage, faith, and geographic roots.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-2a2c8827\" data-id=\"2a2c8827\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2b314e9d elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2b314e9d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"output\" class=\"page-generator__output js-generator-output\"><p>Although Washington is distinctly transient due to the election cycle, temporary professional opportunities, and dense student population, it is by no means an anomaly in the United States. A 2008 Pew Research Report found that four in ten Americans say they are very likely or somewhat likely to move within the next five years, especially the young, unmarried, or foreign born. Nearly 38 percent of U.S. born Americans say the place they consider home is not where they are living now.<\/p><p>Instead of creating new homes, millennials embrace independent rootlessness. Jeanne Meister wrote in <em>Forbes<\/em> that 91 percent of millennials expect to stay in a job for less than three years. Five million 18-34 year-olds live alone in the US, as opposed to 500,000 in 1950, Eric Klinenberg reported in <em>The Guardian<\/em>. Satirical news rag <em>The<\/em> <em>Onion<\/em> mocked cosmopolitan disdain for the \u201ctownie\u201d in an article titled: \u201cUnambitious Loser With Happy Fulfilling Life Still Lives in Hometown.\u201d \u201cGetting out\u201d means making educational and career choices that will take one far away from places and families of origin.<\/p><p>The decreasing presence of unified homes and families of origin further destabilizes peripatetic millennials. Divorce splits families along geographic as well as psychological lines. In the wake of the post-industrial focus on the nuclear family, young professionals walk the career tightrope without the safety net of extended family and broader community. The oft-discussed rise of the religious \u201cnones\u201d further loosens the ties between individual and institution. While many young people form local \u201curban tribes\u201d of their peers, they are increasingly separated from the tightest ties of community\u2014blood, marriage, faith, and geographic roots. Deciding where to go for holidays has never been more difficult.<\/p><p>In the face of overwhelming social trends, it is easy to long for an earlier era. My father grew up in sleepy southern Minnesota in the 1950s, when couples courted on porch swings and sodas cost a nickel. He spent his weekends shucking sweet corn on Uncle Hilbert\u2019s farm and worshipping in a grand and crannied Evangelical United Brethren church. In hindsight those years seem rooted, interdependent, and humane. Although technology, mobility, and accessible higher education present unprecedented opportunity, they have also uprooted families and separated communities.<\/p><p>Yet nostalgia is deceptive. Millennials are only the most recent iteration of the restless American spirit. America is a nation of immigrants and rugged individuals. Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth were all great experiments in relocation, cutting ties with land and kin for the hope of religious freedom, wealth, and a new world. The doctrine of \u201cManifest Destiny\u201d drove Western Expansion, pushing past the Eastern Seaboard, into the wild but fertile lands west of the Mississippi. The California Gold Rush of 1849, the Oregon Trail, and the Homestead Act of 1862 all expressed what Alexis de Tocqueville called the \u201crestive curiosity\u201d of the American people. \u201cOne will then see men change course continuously,\u201d he said, \u201cfor fear of missing the shortest road that would lead them to happiness.\u201d<\/p><p>Opportunity does not come without cost. In <em>Homesickness: An American History<\/em>, Susan J. Matt explores immigrant letters and diaries from the Puritans to present day, revealing the emotional content of American transience. Beneath fierce independence, she reveals not only longing, but debilitating sorrow. Matt describes alcoholism among early colonists, riots caused by Forty-Niners at the post office, and the silent pain of wives and mothers following their homesteading husbands. During the Mexican-American War, U.S. Army physicians even considered nostalgia and homesickness to be diagnosable conditions and recorded them in medical journals of the day. Every generation, from Plymouth to Vietnam, has had its own experience with displacement.<\/p><p>The American experience with homesickness is not exceptional. Swiss Scholar Johannes Hoefer coined the term \u201cnostalgia\u201d in 1688, merging the Greek words <em>nostos<\/em> (return home) and <em>algia<\/em> (pain). Unlike our faint notion of sentimentality, Hoefer used <em>nostalgia<\/em> to describe an actual psychological condition\u2014the longing for home. Ancient and modern literature testify to the enduring motif of the pilgrim\u2014Odysseus in exile from Ithaca, Dante\u2019s winding journey to <em>Paradiso<\/em>, Christian en route to the Celestial City. Homesickness is not just a millennial condition, or an American condition, but a human condition. The desire for homecoming taps into a memory before memory. C.S. Lewis says in <em>The Weight of Glory<\/em>:<\/p><p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is not mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation. And to be at last summoned inside would be both glory and honour beyond all our merits and also the healing of that old ache.<\/p><p>The \u201cold ache\u201d is as old as our exile from Eden. Humans are made for another City. Earthly homes serve only as reminders of Heaven. Even those who never had homes, or had absent parents or unhappy experiences, still seek to find or create places of association and acceptance. The root of our restlessness is a case of mortal nostalgia.<\/p><p><strong>Hospitality as an Antidote<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-10b79f49 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"10b79f49\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7ef6dd47\" data-id=\"7ef6dd47\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-53ce2c73 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"53ce2c73\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-3f128df2\" data-id=\"3f128df2\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-599a1a57 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"599a1a57\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FF-Quotation-1.png?fit=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-520\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FF-Quotation-1.png?w=309&amp;ssl=1 309w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FF-Quotation-1.png?resize=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a274220 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a274220\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Earthly hospitality reflects the transformative power of God\u2019s atoning, adopting hospitality, which turns strangers and aliens into sons and daughters.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-3cc4b7bf\" data-id=\"3cc4b7bf\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f990816 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f990816\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"output\" class=\"page-generator__output js-generator-output\"><p>We cannot turn back the clock on a timeless problem, but there are ways, in the words of Parker Palmer, \u201cto deal creatively with broken hearts.\u201d These solutions are proximate not ultimate, acknowledging the fallenness and fragility of earthly work and cherishing hope in the final restoration of the world to come. Hospitality, the welcome of strangers into place and relationship, is one such solution.<\/p><p>Hospitality is a gesture of peace. It says to the stranger, \u201cI trust you to come into my home, to eat my food, to take up my time.\u201d In an age of privacy and autonomy, this invitation is astonishing. It bears a stronger resemblance to the Good Samaritan\u2019s care for the abused Israelite than the dinner scenes in Norman Rockwell\u2019s Americana. Earthly hospitality reflects the transformative power of God\u2019s atoning, adopting hospitality, which turns strangers and aliens into sons and daughters. It is a dim foreshadowing of the final welcome the children of God will experience in eternity.\u00a0<\/p><p>Far from the benign, cozy gesture we think of today, hospitality was once a serious responsibility. In ancient times when commercial inns were scarce, travelers relied on the goodwill of foreign hosts for food, shelter, and protection. Old Testament Scriptures reinforced the existing practice, commanding the people of Israel to, \u201cLove the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.\u201d The Early Church emphasized the centrality of the Lord\u2019s Supper, special care for the weak and marginalized, and the welcome of itinerant saints.<\/p><p>Today we associate women with hospitality, but historically both men and women partnered in the work of caring for strangers. Men had a central role, screening guests at the city gate and offering provision and protection. During the Middle Ages, an order even emerged called \u201cThe Knights Hospitallers,\u201d whose job was to care for sick and injured pilgrims in the Holy Land. Hospitality was no issue of <em>Martha Stewart Living<\/em>. It was a messy and demanding practice, requiring risk, personal sacrifice, and loss of privacy for the practitioner.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5276d6de elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5276d6de\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-59c4a296\" data-id=\"59c4a296\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-35254a42 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"35254a42\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-77757355\" data-id=\"77757355\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2d588edf elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2d588edf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FF-Quotation-1.png?fit=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-520\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FF-Quotation-1.png?w=309&amp;ssl=1 309w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FF-Quotation-1.png?resize=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7857aa8d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7857aa8d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>When you open your home, you open up part of yourself, dirty dishes and unfolded laundry included. This act of vulnerability paves the way for guests to open up as well.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-1df658bd\" data-id=\"1df658bd\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-52fe349a elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"52fe349a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"output\" class=\"page-generator__output js-generator-output\"><p>How do we reimagine ancient hospitality for our modern pilgrims\u2014graduate students, jet-setting consultants, starving artists, foreign immigrants? How do we open our homes when we too are on the move?<\/p><p>Hospitality is not only for homeowners. A mortgage and disposable income are not prerequisites for a warm welcome. The most powerful expressions of hospitality are offered from weakness, poverty, and the margins of society. The widow of Zarephath made bread for Elijah, though it was her last meal, and miraculously found her flour and oil multiplied many times over. Rahab the prostitute lodged and protected the Israelite spies in Jericho and was later protected by God from the city\u2019s destruction.<\/p><p>During his ministry, Jesus himself lived in a state of social marginality, dependent on the hospitality of friends and followers. Yet in these relationships, he often took on the role of host. He turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. He taught in the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. He healed in the home of Peter. He even hosted an abundant outdoor feast for five-thousand with nothing more than a few loaves and fishes. Christine Pohl says in <em>Making Room<\/em>, \u201cLike Jesus, the best hosts are not completely \u2018at home\u2019 themselves, but still make a place of welcome for others.\u201d<\/p><p>Hospitality \u201con the move\u201d displays deep self-giving generosity. \u201cBabette\u2019s Feast,\u201d the classic short story by Isak Dineson, tells the story of a French widow called Babette, exiled to a windswept fishing village on the fjords of Norway. After coming into an unexpected fortune, she spends everything to cook an extravagant meal for the cold and calloused Lutheran congregation in her new home. The feast transforms everyone at the table, dislodging old grudges, rekindling lost loves, and healing broken dreams. Babette\u2019s feast created, in Dineson\u2019s words, \u201cone hour of the millennium.\u201d<\/p><p>As hospitality is hands-on by nature, discussion would be incomplete without practical steps for integrating it into our lives. What does it look like to welcome others creatively within the conditions of a mobile and fragmented age?<\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>Simple welcomes<\/em>: Simple spaces and simple meals are within the reach of modern pilgrims\u2014an air mattress on the floor of a studio apartment, tuna sandwiches, folding chairs around a card table. However humble our homeplaces\u2014dorm rooms, crowded group houses, or attic apartments\u2014we should not forsake them for trendier third places. Meeting at home, instead of Starbucks or a Sunday school room, is an act of self-disclosure that interrupts our independence. When you open your home, you open up part of yourself, dirty dishes and unfolded laundry included. This act of vulnerability paves the way for guests to open up as well.<\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>Open families<\/em>: Those who do live with families can \u201cadopt\u201d modern pilgrims into their everyday lives. Rather than isolated units, families were once sprawling, multigenerational webs of parents and grandparents, uncles and aunts, siblings and cousins. It is a model worth revisiting. Even the most mundane activities\u2014Sunday dinners, evening prayer, football games\u2014are opportunities for pilgrims to experience membership, accountability, and care. Modern pilgrims can seek out such adoptions, resisting the cultural drift toward age and life-stage segregated communities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>Unstructured time<\/em>: The accelerated pace of modern life means time is one of the most significant obstacles to practicing hospitality. \u201c\u2018Being busy\u2019 has become a status symbol,\u201d says Henri Nouwen, \u201cand most people keep encouraging each other to keep their body and mind in constant motion.\u201d If we fill every spare moment of our lives, we will not be free to welcome unexpected guests or have the energy to care for them. Leaving unstructured time in our schedules is a counter-cultural act, which faithfully anticipates divine encounters. A late-night conversation. Another plate at dinner. Three strangers by the Oaks of Mamre.<\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>Presence of mind<\/em>: In an increasingly distracted society, giving your undivided attention is one of the most meaningful acts of welcome. Although digital communication has softened the blow of modern mobility, it poses a formidable obstacle to presence of mind. Unless it is an imminent responsibility, the simple practice of keeping the cell phone stowed during conversations protects mental boundaries and is a tremendous show of respect to guests.<\/p><p><em>Solitude and stillness<\/em>: Solitude seems a counterintuitive practice for modern pilgrims, many of whom are already isolated from others. But there is a difference between loneliness and solitude. Loneliness is isolation from God and others, but solitude is human enjoyment of the hospitality of God. We cannot enjoy fellowship with others, nor meet their needs, when our own spiritual needs are unmet. The health of the inner life underwrites the health of our life together. Resting on the Sabbath, establishing daily fixed-hour prayers, and even taking regular retreats (as opposed to action-packed vacations), allow us the strength and creativity to reach out to others.<\/p><p>Rosh Hashanah wrapped up with Manischewitz and sugar-dusted beignets. Everyone returned on ribbon roads to their own brownstones and high rises. Dinner always ends too soon.<\/p><p>Hospitality creates a brief hour of the Millennium. For modern pilgrims, it is a proximate response to the problem of displacement and an act of hope in the God who has gone to prepare a place for his people. Encounters with hospitality are what Lewis calls \u201cpleasant inns\u201d along our earthly pilgrimage, but they only serve as a reminder and guarantor of glory. We await the feast that never ends. Blessed are the homesick, for they shall indeed come home.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-6d0ce772 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6d0ce772\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-3487c92b\" data-id=\"3487c92b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-53a9d671\" data-id=\"53a9d671\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7ba994ad elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7ba994ad\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Meredith Schultz<\/strong> <em>is from central Minnesota, where she grew up on hearty diet of good books and family recipes. In 2009, she graduated from Patrick Henry College with a concentration in political theory. She was later accepted as a fellow of the Trinity Forum Academy (class of 2012), where she wrote about the opportunities for hospitality in a mobile age. Meredith now works on Capitol Hill and keeps an open home in nearby Eastern Market. One day she hopes to have a \u201csmall room on the roof\u201d for visiting prophets (II Kings 4:8-37).<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The independent rootlessness of emerging adults presents potent opportunities for the practice of hospitality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,10,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-essays","category-issue-6","entry","has-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Homesick_cover-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1607"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2436,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607\/revisions\/2436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fa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