Welcome to my ”Nine Noble Virtues” series here on Steemit. Today the virtue we will be discussing is ”hospitality”. Hospitality is an often ignored virtue. Yes, we practice forms of hospitality as is customary in every society, but what about hospitality as a virtue? Why are we so accustomed to being hospitable?
Hospitality is opening your house and home to family and friends that you deem worthy to enter your space. I would say that I am always hesitant when anyone is coming to visit, maybe more anxious than anything. Being a private person who likes to hide out in the safety of my home, I always feel a little violated when I let people in the house. In fact, there is not a single person that is able to walk in our house unannounced. Even my mother-in-law, who has a key, must knock before entering and I prefer to know when she is heading over.
This isn't really what hospitality is about, though. The virtue in itself is about knowing when the right situation has arisen to allow someone into your home to help them or the share with them the intimate moments with your family. Not just hey we are having a birthday, come and dump off some gifts and shove your face with cake. No, once someone is invited in they are given the same privileges you enjoy in your home such as shelter, protection, warmth, sustenance, conversation, etc. These are all important things that must not be taken for granted.
The value of this virtue is that each one of us may at one point in our life need the hospitality of another in order to successfully maintain an honorable journey. If this is abused, however, then both parties will severely suffer. The home will be depleted of resources and the visitor will become dependent on others.
For formal visitations such as family staying from out of state, or for us out of the country, it is always best to be ”well met”. That means that both parties will exchange gifts and the visitor will offer a token of gratitude for the visit (bottle of wine, chocolates, a personal gift, etc.). This is done as a sign of respect from one group to another. The person with the home understands the stress of the journey and the time allowed for the visit and the visitors are gracious for the preparation and inconvenience caused by their presence.
My shortcoming is that I plan to make each visitor feel special and I truly appreciate the ones who take the time and money to pick out a gift for my children or offer to help around the house while they are here, but often times I am annoyed that they are there. But why? I am welcomed into there home so it should be easy for me. Maybe it is insecurity, it is hard to say. The good thing is that I am well aware of it and working on it. Plus, my amazing wife more than makes up for my failure in customs.
This is a virtue that I'm sure is not often thought of anymore. Visiting family and friends its such a common thing in our society that it isn't respected as it should be. This is evident now more than ever when a family welcomes a newborn child into the house. This is a sacred and important time for the child to feel safe and loved and met its parents. Yet, it is obligatory in our society for an invasion of almost strangers to come in and and lay their hands and mouths all over the baby when it should only be in peace and quiet alone with its parents and siblings (and dogs too).
I hope this offers a little example of hospitality, and just like all of the virtues, it is one that I sure everyone can work on!
I am sure people have some amazing stories about hospitality and I would love to see some comments about it. If you are feeling inspired I encourage you to write a post about hospitality and I'll hit you with at least 1 steem upvote from @tipu.
Have a great weekend!