Hospitality

When Grandma passed away in 2003, my family was fortunate enough to gather at her house and sort through the many memories left behind. As most grandmas have, there were a lot of knickknacks, tchotchkes, and whatnots. I’m not much on those sorts of things, so I tried to focus on bringing home an item that would evoke a fond memory of her life to me. Grandma was a master at labeling and keeping a record of where an item came from, who gave it to her and the date on which that happened. I suspect for her it was a reflection of sorts, so that she could look back on that memory in time and smile at the gesture someone brought to her life. Memories have a way of fading over time unless we choose to consciously keep them alive. That is why the item I would choose would be so very important to me. I wanted to actually utilize them and not just place them on a shelf to be looked at over time.  The items I chose were a cake stand and a glass tomato and cucumber dish.

If there was one thing you knew for sure about my grandma, it was that she had some type of dessert prepared and displayed on that cake stand when you came to her house. My favorite was the glazed lemon bundt cake. She was a master of a cook and found joy in the process of serving others. To me it was her act of hospitality. She had enough forethought to prepare for the arrival of her guests, whomever they may be.

A garden was something my grandparents had most years, so having homegrown vegetables was a gift in the summer. Grandma was very specific about the way she prepared cucumbers and tomatoes for serving. The tomatoes must be first peeled then sliced very thick, same with the cucumbers. So today as I grow my very own garden and I harvest my tomatoes and cucumbers, I can carefully prepare my vegetables and share them on the same dish with my family.

Both of these dishes are reminders to me of the importance of sharing and hospitality toward your neighbor. Food is a great communicator of sorts. It brings people together in a way that can’t quite be explained.  Invite your neighbor, your friends, your family over for cake and enjoy the fellowship that God designed us to have with each other.