Hospitality—The Sacred Art
Discovering the Hidden Spiritual Power of Invitation and Welcome
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Learn how this ancient spiritual practice can transform
your relationship with yourself, with others and with God.
“The practice of deep hospitality can help us step into a more vital, vibrant embrace of this great adventure we call life—which includes our relationship with God, however you might define God. . . . It is an invitation to walk through life with a liberating posture of receptivity, reverence, and generosity.”
—from the Introduction
We may think of hospitality as merely being polite to guests, but the ancients understood the profound potential hospitality holds for building and transforming lasting relationships—for binding families together, making strangers into friends, even turning enemies into neighbors.
This practical book provides you with the tools you need to cultivate the spiritual power of invitation and welcome in your life. Guided by Rev. Nanette Sawyer, you will discover the qualities of hospitality—receptivity, reverence, and generosity—and how these qualities can significantly deepen your self-understanding as well as your relationships with others and with God. Drawing from sacred texts and spiritual practitioners from all faiths, this book also addresses the major stumbling blocks that prevent you from becoming truly hospitable.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the insightful latest installment of the Art of Spiritual Living series, Presbyterian pastor Sawyer suggests that practicing hospitality can be "transformative." Sawyer's notion of her subject is capacious: though she writes about extending hospitality to grandparents, neighbors and friends, she is also interested in hospitable relationships with God, oneself and even with creation. Ultimately, she calls for readers to do more than simply have people over for a meal (though sharing food is one hospitable practice she encourages); rather, she wants people to invite others into deep, real relationships. Thus, intentionality and attentiveness underpin her conception of hospitality. We should pay attention to "what is really going on inside of us" and listen carefully when in conversation with other people. Sawyer moves from the theoretical and theological ("hospitality to God is circular because when we welcome God we find that we ourselves are deeply welcomed into God") to the practical (centering prayer can foster a hospitable relationship with God; making museum or picnic dates with yourself is a way to practice hospitality to self). She writes with a deeply ecumenical bent, drawing on Thich Nhat Hahn, Swami Anantananda, Gandhi and Lao Tsu. This small book will be a blessing to many people.
