Pastor's Video Blog

One of the things we need more of in this world is the gift of hospitality. I learned it in 1979 in Lisbon Falls, Maine, coming home from college.  It was Thanksgiving, and it snowed 10 inches.  My mother was missing all of her family in the deep south, but she did the best she could. We had Thanksgiving dinner with pumpkin pie, and mashed potatoes, and turkey, and ham – it was a wonderful spread. 

And my dad was a Navy chaplain and the tradition was to go around the Navy base and see if there were any young sailors far from home, who didn’t have a place to go for Thanksgiving. That was great for me because sometimes we would have 6 or 7 of them around the table, and that meant more food. 

 After the 3^rdtime to the buffet table, we’d all spread out on the living room floor, in front of the fireplace and snore in delightful pain.  And then one by one, my mom and dad would call one of those sailors into the kitchen to make a phone call to their mom and dad – sometimes Georgia, Texas, or California. And that’s how I learned the gift of hospitality.

Come, join me this Sunday, as we talk more about how to be hospitable to those around us in this world.