Accepting Hospitality

There is a slip of paper on my computer monitor that asks God to help me set aside what I think I know in order to have an open mind and a new experience of everything and everyone. Today, as I read about Jesus sending seventy-two disciples out to spread the good news about the nearness of the realm of God, I find myself struggling with his insistence that, in addition to healing the people of any town where they are welcomed, they are to eat and drink whatever they are offered.*

“But, but, but….” my inner voices scream. Too often I stand paralyzed with indecision at the grocery store as I read the fine print on the labels. How can I find the morally correct balance among all the competing values that I want to honor? How can I avoid unpronounceable chemical additives, any ingredient derived from meat, and too much packaging, while also actually liking the taste of this or that brand of salad dressing, baked beans, or veggie burger? I want to follow Jesus, but does he really mean that I am supposed to eat some of everything at the potluck, even if I don’t like beets, every protein is deep fried, and there are six kinds of dessert?

The more I think about it, it seems to me that Jesus is inviting me to set aside what I think I know. Too often, what I think I know closes me off from communion with myself, with others, and with God. Maybe in telling the disciples to eat and drink whatever is put before them, Jesus is telling me to consider that I need to include accepting hospitality in my list of value. I need to open my mind and my heart to what is offered, so that I can receive the abundance that God so lavishly sets before me.