Tuesday Bullets and More About Hospitality

• Yesterday was one of those "chase your own tail" kind of days. Doctor appointment that went very long, making me late to pick up Chaos for her cello lesson, rushing around, getting to the lesson late -- and the new instructor doesn't show up. Kate needs the lesson because...
• She is auditioning for an honors orchestra the Saturday after Labor Day. She has the music and so we just need to get her enough time to practice and some tutoring. This is the first level of auditions this year; All State is next.
• She's removed the last "tape" from her fingerboard; it's like training wheels for the cello. She probably doesn't need it -- she's dependent on it, though. One step at a time.
• This week should be better than last week, schedule-wise. We are gradually getting used to getting up at o-dark-thirty. It's a matter of just making sure there is enough time for everything to get done.
• Still, it's hard to get used to 5:30 am almost every single day (except Saturday).
• I like the girls having their own cell phone. I will talk to them as they are at the bus stop. It's a compromise -- that way I know for my own peace of mind that they are OK and they don't have me physically hovering.
• I'm thinking about hospitality this week (more) and how it intersects with the Keys of the Kingdom. I want to do two sermon series this Autumn -- or maybe what would be better would be just linking each sermon to one or more of the themes in the 5 Faithful Practices. This week -- I'm still thinking about hospitality. Wikipedia:
• Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a guest and a host
• For an in depth understanding of the term of hospitality, the starting point is the etymology of the word itself. The word hospitality derives from the Latin hospes, which is formed from hostis, which originally meant a 'stranger' and came to take on the meaning of the enemy or 'hostile stranger' (hostilis) + pets (polis, poles, potentia) to have power. Furthermore, the word hostire means equilize/compensate. If you combined the above etymological analysis with the story of Telemachus and Nestor you can develop in your mind the Greek concept of sacred hospitality.
• Hospes is the root word for many different English words: Hospitality, Hotel, Hostel, Hospital, Hospice.
  
• My friend Sophianne named her island on Second Life Xenia, which is the Greek word for sacred hospitality. From Wikipedia: There are a few basic rules; "The respect from host to guest, the respect from guest to host, and the parting gift from host to guest. The host must be hospitable to the guest and provide him with food and drink and a bath, if required. It is not polite to ask questions until the guest has stated his needs. The guest must be courteous to his host and not be a burden. The parting gift is to show the host's honor at receiving the guest."
• Interesting thing: Hospes means both guest and host. We get stuck with a single meaning in English, but Hospes is a reciprocal relationship -- it not only means the respect from host TO guest but also the respect FROM guest to host. I suppose you can't have a host without having a guest; each are necessary for the relationship to exist.
• Jesus was born here on earth; if we see his incarnation as a "visitation" from God to earth, we can see how Jesus is on one hand a guest here on earth, here to receive our honor/hospitality/respect and on the other hand to give to us -- the very keys of salvation. (The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke's Gospel By Brendan Byrne Published by Liturgical Press, 2000, p. 4)
• More later.