Hi Friends,

American writer Frederick L. Collins once said:

There are two types of people — those who come into a room and say, “Well, here I am!” and those who come in and say, “Ah, there you are.”

A “here I am” person walks into a room wrapped around themselves. How will I be received? How do I look? What impression will I make?

A “there you are” person walks into a room with eyes to truly see the people in front of them. Their lives, their needs.

My friend who works in the food industry has the goal to get every one of her employees to learn to be a there you are person. She has found this to be an essential part of working in hospitality.

But hospitality is not just essential for business. It’s mentioned in two Bible passages that focus on spiritual gifts (Romans 12, 1 Peter 4).

Jesus, Word made flesh and embodiment of all spiritual gifts, operated constantly in the gift of hospitality. You can see it in every scene in the Gospel.

He walks into every room with there you are.

He has eyes that see straight to the heart of men and women. He sees and is moved by their faith.

He disrupts dinner parties and breaks religious laws to love the least of these. He heals. Forgives. Reaches out to touch ones who had been ostracized for years.

He sets a table for us in the middle of death’s valley.

He’s preparing a place for us now in His Father’s house.

This gift of hospitality, this there you are is too vital to be left only to the homemakers or chefs or hotel staff.

We can seek out and cultivate this Holy Spirit gift. It’s essential for living a life poured out, a life flourishing in the kind of love that lays itself down for another.

This gift can be exercised anytime, anywhere. We can start with the people around us: our families and neighbors.

Maybe it even starts small — joining the family in the kitchen in the morning with eyes to truly see them.

There you are.

– Anna