Welcoming the Stranger
Monday I sat in a group meditation practice online and was invited to center, breathe, and focus my interior movements and posture. These were not the exact words used during the meditation but for the most part this is how I arrive to these sorts of practices.
The group was led through these movements to invite a deeper understanding of hospitality and how we welcome ‘the stranger’ in our lives.
The ways we marginalize or even ignore the strangers who are traveling next to us says much about the way we see each other.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)
The expression of the practice was to lead us into a deeper sense of belonging through the thread of hospitality in the way we welcome ‘the stranger’ at a physical door or how we welcome and greet ‘the stranger’ at the interior door of our heart.
One of the strangers that met me at the door of my heart was ‘aloneness…’
Keep in mind that last week I wrote about the two stones I would add during Lent, tenderness and vulnerability. I added these two stones during the meditation and began with vulnerability first. I recognized this stranger and then remembered… the aloneness that I had felt since I was a child.
I grew up with four dozen first cousins! We were always together. Never alone for very long. Trips to the lake to swim or trips to the grocery store, there was always someone near. Someone sleeping over. Someone to celebrate. Some sort of church activity to attend. I was with people I cared about.
I recognized the stranger during Mondays meditation. Standing at the door of my heart. Perhaps waiting to be seen and welcomed over the years.
The practitioner invited us to see, meet and greet the stranger. So with the second stone in my hand and with tenderness in the moment, I welcomed aloneness…
A slow sort of welcoming but still welcoming. With a rush of emotion that followed. Full colored. Intensely bright.
The invitation was to see Christ in the stranger. Whether a physical door as someone arrives that we do not yet know their story or the places they have traveled in life, or the interior door of the heart where strangers of our very own stories are waiting to be welcomed. To find hospitality in belonging.
What was aloneness here to remind me of this week? Why did I see her first?
I have known her since I was ten. One of my first memories of a feeling that I didn’t belong. Over the next two decades of my life I would stand in places alone and remind myself ‘there is no one else, you have to go it alone.’ Perhaps this ‘stranger of aloneness’ was the part of my DNA that I would later wrestle with when I learned my Dad was not my biological Father. Perhaps it was part strength that I didn’t recognize at the time. Perhaps it is here now, this week during Lent, to offer a new way of seeing, being with, and welcoming aloneness in my life. To see the strength she has offered me. To experience ‘wild heart wilderness’ as true belonging.
One of Brené Brown’s most famous insights on this topic is the idea that we shouldn’t fear the wilderness (the state of being alone in our truth). She writes:
“There will be times when standing alone feels too hard... This is when you reach deep into your wild heart and remind yourself, ‘I am the wilderness.’”
To Brené Brown, aloneness is the ultimate proof of belonging—because if you are comfortable standing alone, it means you finally belong to yourself.
I leave you with this practice of welcoming strangers… opening to hospitality… and belonging to yourself…
With Belonging…
Love expands the Table ~ Shelly
Table Conversations
This week at Table we will hear from Anni Ponder as she brings a holy fire regarding the abuse of women, rape victims, and how patriarchal systems silence and why we need to talk about this more. Please join table this week where we will make space for your story. If you know someone who has been abused, victimized, raped, or threatened by male dominance please invite them to use the link below to join Table.
Go here to Table Chat on Substack and introduce yourself. You will receive the Zoom details for our Wednesday Table Conversations.
