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Advent Invitation: Extending Hospitality to the Displaced

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Artwork: “All Ye That Are Heavy Laden” by J. Kirk Richards

Extending Hospitality to the Displaced | by Krista Heide

As our gospel texts demonstrate, the stories of advent are not all rosy and picturesque. Rather, themes of hardship, oppressive circumstances, physical and spiritual displacement, vulnerability and desperation are woven through our sacred storylines. The fact that our scriptures name the depth of struggle amid the miraculous, offers us a space, or a permission, to name and pray through the harder dynamics of our own personal, and communal / global story.

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Invitation for Personal Contemplation:

Flowing from the theme of displacement in our nativity story, let’s pause and consider the theme of displacement in our own lives.

How does this word ‘displacement’ resonate with your current life experience?

Are there circumstances of the past year(s) that have led you to a place of feeling ‘displaced’ in any way? (Perhaps a shift in geographical location; a loss of a relationship; a transition in your workplace, school or homelife; a new diagnosis; economic struggle…)
What are the griefs, questions or longings this displacement stirs up for you?
Where do you carry these things in your body?
Take a moment to name this sense of displacement, and sit with God in this place.
Ask for God’s abundant hospitality to meet you here, offering you the grace, care, and nurture you need in this season. 
What does this look like? How could you posture yourself to receive this?
Rest here as long as you need.
Perhaps journal or reach out to a friend to share about your time of reflection and encounter.
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Invitation for Communal Engagement:

Statistics reveal that this year alone 120 million people globally have been displaced from their homes due to war and violence. Over the past 5 years, more than 500,000 refugees have found asylum throughout the nation of Canada.

This advent, as we reflect on the themes of displacement and hospitality in our nativity story, how can we be mindful of and engaged in extending hospitality towards the many people who are currently experiencing real and tangible displacement in our cities, and in our world?

Here are two suggestions:

Prayer.

Let’s commit to praying for the people who are currently experiencing physical displacement around our world.

I recently had the opportunity to partner with a woman from Refugee Highway Partnership North America to create a series of prayers stations that walk through the journey of a refugee to facilitate empathy, understanding and prayer. We turned these into a pdf toolkit that can be used as a resource to guide personal and communal prayers. You can access The Stations of the Highway Prayer Toolkit here.

Extending Hospitality

Do you know of any refugees or people who have experienced displacement of some kind in your neighbourhood or city? Consider how you can take a tangible step of extending hospitality to these dearly beloved people, just as others extended hospitality to the holy family surrounding Christ’s birth.  As Eugene Peterson paraphrases in Romans 12:13, how are you called to ‘be inventive in hospitality’ this season?

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Artwork: The Best Supper by Jan Richardson
Poem: And the Table Will be Wide by Jan Richardson
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And the table will be wide.
And the welcome will be wide.
And the arms will open wide to gather us in.
And our hearts will open wide to receive.
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And we will come as children who trust there is enough.
And we will come unhindered and free.
And our aching will be met with bread.
And our sorrow will be met with wine.
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And we will open our hands to the feast without shame.
And we will turn toward each other without fear.
And we will give up our appetite for despair.
And we will taste and know of delight.
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And we will become bread for a hungering world.
And we will become drink for those who thirst.
And the blessed will become the blessing.
And everywhere will be the feast.