<html>
<head>
<style>
.hmmessage P
{
margin:0px;
padding:0px
}
body.hmmessage
{
FONT-SIZE: 10pt;
FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma
}
</style>
</head>
<body class='hmmessage'>
For heaven's sake, Pat, of course we can look at "other experiences." We just can't call them by the wrong name -- a more favorable name, even -- and continue the discussion.<br><br>keely<br><br>"God works patiently and deeply, but often in hidden ways, in the mess of our humanity and history."<br>--Eugene Peterson<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br><br><br>> To: vision2020@mail-gw.fsr.net<br>> From: pkraut@moscow.com<br>> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 00:08:51 +0000<br>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] what is hospitality?<br>> <br>> Ok, this would work for you but others see it differently and I have had <br>> it work in other ways in my life. So we should work only from your <br>> experiences or can we look at other options??<br>> > <br>> > I left yesterday's NSA candidates' forum before the audience questions<br>> came> in. Someone asked Wayne Krauss about the recent boarding house<br>> ordinance;> Krauss answered, according to the Daily News, that it was a <br>> question of<br>> wh> en "a guest becomes a boarder."<br>> > <br>> > Huh.<br>> > <br>> > My mama always taught me that guests are the people you invite to enjoy<br>> you> r family's company, your home, your food and drink and some Jello-<br>> based<br>> des> sert. For free. The women on both sides of my family, going <br>> generations<br>> b> ack, would smack me silly if I ever collected a fee from those I <br>> invited. <br>> > I'm just now getting comfortable with the idea of a potluck; it runs<br>> agains> t my grain. Still, guests are people invited who are required to <br>> bring<br>> NOT> HING and pay NOTHING. And I accommodate guests based on what my home <br>> and<br>> f> amily can reasonably handle. I don't go out and buy a five- or<br>> six-bedroom> home knowing that my "guest fees" will cover part of the <br>> mortgage. <br>> Hospit> ality is a gift, not a for-profit venture.<br>> > <br>> > Jeff and I have also had people live with us, again for free, when <br>> they're<br>> > in desperate straits. We wouldn't accept payment from them -- we were<br>> eng> aging in hospitality to "the least of these" who probably couldn't <br>> have<br>> pai> d us back anyway. Certainly no one reading this would fail to offer<br>> whatev> er they could provide to someone in need, and we're no different. <br>> Hospital> ity is a ministry, not a fee-based social service. <br>> > <br>> > If one of our elderly parents were sick, we would without question have<br>> the> m in our home as long as we could provide the kind of care they <br>> needed. <br>> Ho> spitality is an obligation of family, not a burden.<br>> > <br>> > On the other hand, if we had someone who lived with us because of<br>> convenien> ce, someone who wanted to hang with our family while she or he <br>> studied or<br>> w> orked or prepared for marriage, we might agree to let them, and we would<br>> as> k them to help offset expenses, with the idea that we were substitutes <br>> for<br>> > dorm or apartment living and costs. I would accept a couple of hundred <br>> or<br>> > so, or a bag or two of groceries a week, or help with the heating bill --<br>> a> nd then I'd go down to City Hall to get my CUP. Boarding is a neutral<br>> thin> g, morally, not an opportunity to break the law. <br>> > <br>> > And while I may be -- would hope to be -- a hospitable host, I would be<br>> cle> ar that my making hundreds of dollars from three or four or five <br>> boarders<br>> i> s NOT hospitality. It's probably not even a smart idea, but the City<br>> Counc> il is in charge of holding the City responsible for enforcing the <br>> law, not<br>> > probing the ministerial or filial motive of living arrangements. Real<br>> hosp> itality knows nothing of casual law-breaking, profit, investing in <br>> too-big<br>> > houses, or cries of persecution. I would expect classically-educated<br>> Chris> tians to be aware of what my beloved grandmother knew with only an<br>> eighth-g> rade education and a Catholic Missalette.<br>> > <br>> > keely<br>> > <br>> > <br>> > <br>> > <br>> > "God works patiently and deeply, but often in hidden ways, in the mess of<br>> o> ur humanity and history."<br>> > --Eugene Peterson<br>> > <br>> > <br>> > <br>> > _________________________________________________________________<br>> > Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live<br>> Space> s. It's easy!<br>> > http://spaces.live.com/spacesapi.aspx?wx_action=create&wx_url=/friends.> <br>> aspx&mkt=en-us> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> ---------------------------------------------<br>> This message was sent by First Step Internet.<br>> http://www.fsr.com/<br>> <br>> <br>> =======================================================<br>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br>> http://www.fsr.net <br>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> =======================================================<br><br /><hr />Get news, entertainment and everything you care about at Live.com. <a href='http://www.live.com/getstarted.aspx ' target='_new'>Check it out!</a></body>
</html>