Entertaining angels

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

- Hebrews 13:2

Curiously enough, those the world rejects as repulsive often share a rare gift of hospitality, the overlooked and undervalued are often the first at welcoming the stranger among us. 

As a new arrival to Canada, my wife, Chieko, began sinking in the loneliness and isolation that so many newcomers to Canada share, after the initial euphoric rush of a new life in a new country. Rather than alleviating the loneliness, sometimes a crowded party only serves to underline the alienation, surrounded by people celebrating a foreign life in an untranslatable language, laughter spreading through the room at culture-bound jokes that make no sense whatsoever to an outsider. 

That night Chieko wanted nothing more than to participate in the shared life of the party, but felt entirely out of place, as if she had been pulled abruptly out of the natural running stream of a river, like a fish struggling to survive out of the flow of water.  

A severely disabled man approached her and took her by the hand. Not only are people with developmental disabilities approachable, but so often they are also the first to approach others who are hurting and in need of a friend. He was non-verbal, but highly expressive, and his animated body language transcended the language barrier my wife struggled against that evening.

It was a simple gesture wordlessly extended; an outreached hand, an invitation for friendship. He's at home entertaining, and is never one to exclude. He's received us all, and still there's always room for one more.