— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
Athira, one of the youngsters who came regularly to church came up to us recently with a not so common request. She was having her post graduate degree award function at the University of Freiburg and wanted us to be there with her, and for her, in place of her parents. It was a joy for us to accept the invitation. At the function in the University, we found many graduating students from across the world. In conversation with them I realised that many of them wished that their parents were with them too. But for practical reasons it was not possible. In the interaction that ensued, many students whom we talked to, said what they missed most in Freiburg was home and the family. I was particularly struck by a youngster who said, “what you can offer to people like us is a home away from home”.
Providing a home is surely about shelter. Many of us who have houses in Freiburg have opened spaces within our limited home resources to provide a place of safety, security and comfort for foreign students. We have carved out spaces to be shared as personal spaces for others. Our functional spaces are also shared.
However, even without sharing spaces there are areas that everybody can participate in. One of those is providing an alternate family and social space for students who come from far away contexts. Providing a space for emotional attachment for those who are far away from their familiar networks would make our spaces for them places of memory, love, emotional bonding, belonging and new identity. Beyond a place of staying, what we can offer is support in spiritual and emotional wellbeing of theirs. We could offer evenings of hospitality, inviting them over for a meal and a healthy conversation. We can take them out for a walk or a ride and assure them that in you there is a shoulder they can always lean on.
To be hospitable we should truly understand what Christ said- “Love your neighbour as yourself”. Providing a space of hospitality is about creating a warm, welcoming and inviting ambience, making the visitor comfortable, valued and at home. It calls for generosity- sharing our resources freely with guests and strangers. A heart of compassion concerned about the wellbeing of others through thoughtful action and an attitude of treating others with honour, esteem and dignity.
By welcoming strangers, we could perhaps be welcoming the angels of God. The time that we invest on these could be seen therefore as part of continuing worship. We must always remember what Jesus said- “the little you do to the least of these you do it unto me”.
Some of these acts of kindness would be so strongly etched in the hearts of people that lifetime bonding’s are formed. It returns to us when we are in strange contexts and someone else offers such hospitality to us or to our next of kin.
Yes, each of us can create ‘homes away from homes’ for those around us.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 