Daily Worship

A prayer for preparing for someone to stay

Fiona Reynolds February 14, 2023 1 3
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Hebrews 13: 1-2 (NRSVA)

1 Let mutual love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

At Alnmouth Friary, where I go on retreat, there is a wee routine they like you to follow before you leave. It consists of stripping the bed of the linen you have slept in and re-making it, as well as saying a prayer for whoever is going to be staying there next.  Clearly the bed-making is very practical and necessary, but the addition of prayer is quite wonderful. It makes the stay even more special knowing that a stranger prayed for you before you arrived and that you will pray for a stranger before you depart. Clean bed sheets matter, but the cloud of prayer makes all the difference.

 

PRAYER:

 

Hospitality is so much more than clean sheets and tasty food —

you know that, O Welcomer of All;

sometimes, the clean sheets and tasty food are all I can manage,

when I am working and tired and grouchy;

so, as I prepare my home to embrace another,

I ask you to prepare my heart to be warm

my mind to be open

and my ears ready to really listen,

so my sojourner may know a home from home, AMEN.