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Romans 12.9-21 - Be Creative in Hospitality
Like many of you, I spent a great deal of time streaming and reading during quarantine. In the first few weeks, I sailed through books that sat on my bookshelf, series in the queue, and Great Courses on Audible. The subjects ranged from how to keep plants alive to synchronous and asynchronous learning to British mysteries. I even reread a few books on justice from decades ago. With all of these topics flowing through my head and heart, I began to see a common theme of love in its simplest form and in its complicated nature. This brought me to revisit a chapter in a more familiar text, The Bible.
Most of us have experienced romantic love, the love of a parent, or the love of a child, so we understand that caring deeply means opening ourselves up to the unknown. It is a leap of faith. The second section of Romans 12 contains this one passage that gets me every time, “Let love be genuine”. This phrase for me is at once overwhelming and quieting. What is this love that Paul writes of in his letter to the Romans? This is certainly the acting out of the love of God, and Paul goes on to offer ways that we show this through the love of neighbor - through friendship, sacrifice, and humility - setting aside judgment. This love is the essence of what it means to live into the Christian identity. It is the unifying element of the people of God.
2020 tests this love repeatedly. When Covid-19 showed up, and our families of Chinese descent were faced with judgment, how did love show up? When elderly neighbors were in need of a helping hand during the self-quarantine, how did love show up? When Mr. George Floyd cried out for his mother, how did love show up? When fires once again ravaged California, how did love show up?
Love shows up when we are able to look beyond our own personal comfort to see the needs of the community around us, and find ways to meet those needs equitably. As the community of Christ Church Episcopal School, how will love show up? Love showed up this summer when dozens of faculty, staff, and parents committed to conversations on Race using resources from Beverly Daniel Tatum, Claude M. Steele, The 1619 Project, and Code Switch. Love showed up in a story shared by a CCES parent who discovered a new friend in a neighbor who was in need of someone to run errands during the quarantine. Love showed up with a CCES student who saw and met a need in the community that helped local non-profits stock their shelves.
Genuine love is here. All we need to do is listen for the opportunity to be creative in how we offer radical hospitality through love.
Christ Church Episcopal School (“CCES”) admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at CCES. CCES does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national or ethnic origin, creed, religion, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, financial aid, scholarship or other programs, or athletic or other school-administered programs and activities.