Lenten Study Week 5: April 7
Part 4: Practicing Hospitality
Continuing our reading and reflection for our
last challenge from Beck to “Practice Hospitality.” This will be our last session for this Lenten
Study. Thank you all for coming, this
has been a very special journey for me personally and I hope for you as well.
Pat O’Hara
Chapter 13: Seeing
1.
Reflecting
on the evangelical Texas soccer moms welcoming Abeer to their playgroup (pp.
179–81), share a story where you’ve seen surprising hospitality extended toward
others.
2.
Share
your own “This is Water” moment (pp. 184–87), “a crowed, hot, slow,
consumer-hell-type” situation where you struggled to tap into “love,
compassion, and the subsurface unity of all things.”
3.
In the
chapter, an example was used of passengers being unkind to an airline ticketing
agent after a flight got canceled (pp. 187–90). Share a story from your life
where you’ve seen something similar happen. Describe how you could practice
kindness in moments like these.
4.
In the
chapter, seeing others is described as a practice of kindness (pp. 187–90).
Read Galatians 5:22–23, Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit. In addition to
kindness, how many of these fruits can also be described as practices of
hospitality?
5.
Hospitality Homework: Commit to practicing kindness this week when
you find yourself in a “This is Water” moment. Come back and share your
experience with the group.
Chapter 14: Stopping
1.
Share
how your level of hurry and busyness hurts your ability to see others and
extend them hospitality (pp. 191–93). Give an example from this week.
2.
Who
are the people most likely to interrupt you any given day? How can you practice
becoming more interruptible with them (pp. 194–98)?
3.
If slow
is the speed of love, what are three things you could do to slow your life down
(pp. 194)?
4.
Hospitality
Homework: Commit to being more interruptible in some part of your life this
week. Be specific! Come back and share your experiences with the group.
Chapter 15: Approaching
1.
Reflecting
on Richard’s story with Kristi (pp. 199–201), share an experience of making a
surprising friendship and how it blessed your life.
2.
Share
how your life would change if you adopted the “no detour rule” (pp. 202–4).
3.
When you
are on “social autopilot,” what’s your typical social routine (at church, at a
gathering, etc.)? Describe how that routine would change if you were to
disengage your social autopilot (pp. 204–6).
4.
Hospitality
Homework: Disengage your social autopilot for a week, or adopt the “no detour
rule.” Come back and share your experiences with the group.
