Practitioners

I started reading Practitioners at lunch today. I'm intrigued after the first few entries. It's more of a collection of various writings, blog posts and more.

Acceptance. Now there's a word loaded with meaning. We tend to confuse it with tolerance or even approval. But acceptance is about receiving, rather than judging. The father, who will not visit his son because his son is living unmarried with a woman, or even another man, might say he doesn't want to condone his son's choices. We feel for him, but we know it's a cover-up because we, too, have rationalized our avoidance of things and situations we would rather not have to face. Then we hide the dissapointment, cover the anger, and justify the rejection. We struggle in our best efforts to hold back judgement and just accept. Acceptance is not about condoning; it is about embracing. When we accept, we take an open stance to the other person. It is more than pios tolerating them. We stand in the same space and appreciate who they are, right at this moment, and affirm the Sacred in them. - Radical Hospitality

That's hard to do. It's hard to really accept people when we might disagree with everything they say or do.

A hospitable space is determined not by place or location but by practitioners - it is wherever practitioners form. From Starbucks to the local pub, from shopping malls to skid row, from Nepal to the Netherlands, from the theaters to your own homes, practitioners live by rhythms of hospitality. Hospitality is not something you do - it's something you become.

The writer talks about the woman who wept at the feet of Jesus in Luke 7.
He says that Simon, the homeowner was uncomfortable with her even being there. He wanted to get rid of her because of what it might look like to others.

In contrast, Jesus created space. He allowed this woman to be without any judgment, without any conditions, without any confusion. He allowed this woman - He allows the stranger, you and me - to come and sit, knowing that His touch, truth, time and relentless tenderness transform the human heart.

Think about your closest friends. At some point you too were strangers. What made the difference? Hospitality. You each had to reach out of your shell and make a connection.

Can you hear the sounds of the woman quivering at the feet of Jesus? Should we question why the religious didn't extend to her the unconditional warmth, reassurance and assitance of biblical community? In Jesus, we see the raw recognition of her human value come to the forefront and the rebellion of love challenge the systems of moral judgment that haunt the human heart, as well as confront the church policy that unknowningly ousts the broken for fear that those with wealth would exit the doors.