Learn how this ancient spiritual practice
can transform
your relationship with yourself, with others
and with God.
“The practice of deep hospitality
can help us step into a more vital, vibrant embrace of this
great adventure we call life—which includes our
relationship with God, however you might define God. . . .
It is an invitation to walk through life with a
liberating posture of receptivity, reverence, and
generosity.”
—from
the Introduction
We may think of hospitality as merely
being polite to guests, but the ancients understood the
profound potential hospitality holds for building and
transforming lasting relationships—for binding families
together, making strangers into friends, even turning enemies
into neighbors.
This practical book provides you with the
tools you need to cultivate the spiritual power of invitation
and welcome in your life. Guided by Rev. Nanette Sawyer, you
will discover the qualities of hospitality—receptivity,
reverence, and generosity—and how these qualities can
significantly deepen your self-understanding as well as your
relationships with others and with God. Drawing from sacred
texts and spiritual practitioners from all faiths, this book
also addresses the major stumbling blocks that prevent you from
becoming truly hospitable.
“A lovely book! This wise and
wonderful guide is required reading for leaders of any
congregation seeking to create a warm ambience of welcoming.
Highly recommended.”
—Dr. Ron
Wolfson, author, The Spirituality of Welcoming: How to Transform Your
Congregation into a Sacred Community
“Gently voiced and clear ... adds
wonderful thoughtfulness and depth to the practices of a truly
spiritual life.... Will help people navigate the complexity of
life with love and welcome for [all] living things.”
—Rev.
Clare Butterfield, director, Faith
in Place
“Turns your black-and-white
understanding [of hospitality] into a spiritual practice that
will transform you, your relationships, and your experience of
God.... [Offers an] experience of awareness, acceptance and
action that is both profoundly human and divine.”
—Thomas
Ryan, CSP, author, The Sacred Art of Fasting: Preparing to Practice
“A must-read.... Illustrates how
simple gestures [of invitation and welcome] can transform us
into spiritual adepts.”
—Nancy
Corcoran, CSJ, author, Secrets of Prayer: A Multifaith Guide to
Creating Personal Prayer in Your Life
“This interfaith meditation on an
essential spiritual discipline is written with a wonderfully
deft touch.”
—Tony
Jones, national coordinator,
Emergent Village; author, The New
Christians
Rev. Nanette Sawyer is founding pastor of Wicker Park Grace, an
innovative Christian community in Chicago that holds
hospitality as a core value. An ordained minister with the
Presbyterian Church (USA), she serves as a representative on
the Interfaith Relations Commission of the National Council of
Churches USA.
Rev. Dirk Ficca is
the executive director of the Council for a Parliament of the
World’s Religions, an ordained minister in the
Presbyterian Church (USA), and moderator of Chicago
Presbytery’s Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious
Relations.
About the Art of Spiritual Living Series
Because spirituality is much more than what you think— it's what you do. Explaining little-known or misunderstood spiritual practices from around the world with clear instructions on how you can do it, too.
