All of us want to be more closely united with others. We are fashioned in the image of the Trinity, so our basic nature calls us to relationships. Seeking a relationship could become a place to hide. We could seek relationships only with those we know well and who agree with us on everything. But each of us has a natural urge to come to know something new and different. We have a curiosity about things and people we don’t know, but sometimes our fear keeps us from moving in that direction.

Jesus allowed his natural inclination to be one with all to lead Him not just to those He was familiar with but also to strangers. He spent time with very close friends like Lazarus, Martha and Mary Magdalen. He spent time with His apostles and disciples. But He was also drawn to those whom He knew little about — the sick, the poor, those from different religious or national backgrounds and those who disagreed with Him.

We notice in the reading from the second book of Kings that the woman who encountered Elisha wanted to dine with him, probably out of curiosity about prophets in general and him specifically. She and her husband gradually made more room for the prophet so that he had a comfortable place to stay when he visited town and so she could come to know him more deeply. Those acts of hospitality led her to experience more abundance in life.

To be able to respond to our curiosity and live with that level of hospitality, we must keep Jesus at the center of our lives. Letting other people or things replace Jesus is what leads us to trust ourselves less, follow our natural inclinations less and go through life not noticing the opportunities that God gives us.

Summertime opens up the possibility of more outdoor time and encounters with others. Are you willing to take this opportunity to make your life more available for hospitality? Are you willing to become less afraid of following your natural inclination and to be more ready to explore your curiosities? Are you willing to look more deeply at what might have taken Jesus’ place as the center of your life and to do whatever you can to put Jesus back where He belongs?

We are privileged people, abundantly blessed by God. We’ve been given the gift of the Holy Spirit for our guidance, conservation and as our advocate in the presence of God. Enjoy the vastness of life and all that it offers you. Don’t make your life smaller than it needs to be, especially if your motivation is fear or hatred. Hospitality is the instrument that allows us to experience greater abundance and a closer connection to the grace of God that flows through our world each day. Enjoy this summertime and all that it has to offer.