A family who lost their way to their home were stranded and was almost hopeless. It is already fifteen years since they visited home, and because of the many renovations carried out in their state, they were unable to find their way until they ran into the night. When they ransacked the vicinity to see how they can get at least a guest house, it was dawn on them that there was no such thing. Upon the realisation of their comfort for that night, they were left with the option to comb the little village to see who would make welcome to them. In different houses they entered, they were met with disappointment and they grew pensive and acrid. Things turned rough when it was too dark to see help. At the same time, they got apprehensive of the armed robbers and how they would be risking their valuables as well.
A few minutes drive from where they were searching, they came upon a little light brimming with soft voices. There could be ways to bridge the contact with the occupants of the environment, but they are dead in fear and they are not sure of the faces they’d meet. In confidence, they strolled there and knocked. It was a family house, but with tottering walls and unhealthy corners. Due to their desperation and quest for safety, they asked if they can put their head down for some hours before they would continue with their journey. With some hesitancy, they threw questions at them, to find out first if they know where they are going and from which town they are heading. When they provided this information, they were filled with compassion to give them a welcome. We have a little inn for you people, but I will be assisting you with other necessary things, the old woman who was already on a tattered wrapper around her chest mentioned. Make yourself comfortable and please, don’t fail to manage us, the way we are. With a grateful heart, the family were so touched by their act of kindness.
Giving people your inn in a very little good manner is a sign of love and there is nothing that quickens the healing of the heart than being nice no matter how it comes. In most cases, we have been strangers to places we have not known. The way we were welcomed shouldn’t always determine the way we should welcome others. There are different types of hospitality, but I will like to keep clear the most popular one we often receive. This is the welcome we give to people based on class. It applies to how we value people by first stripping them of their humanity to replace it with status and offices the person occupies. At each point you give class hospitality, you are indirectly asking for a reward because it is a sign that you have an ulterior motive for that act of charity. It is the recognition of class that gives room to what I as well see as drought hospitality. It is an act of giving someone a half service. A failed formulation of love in its great sense and conduct.
In 2014, I met a single mother who pleaded with me for accommodation in my family house in the village. Because of how dedicated she was and how she carried her poor child around to hawk doughnuts, I asked for my parent’s permission to give her a room in our house. She had requested to stay in our house to run her admission stuff in my state. When my parents finally agreed, I asked for her details and other necessary information, in case of future issues. I fed my parents with those details and allowed her to gain access to the phone numbers of my parents and the home address. When she came to our house, my Mum, was so dedicated to providing her with everything she needed as a mother. At some point, my Mum was going to school late because she had to prepare breakfast, boil water for them and her baby and even invite her for prayers, to which she often don’t respond. After a few weeks of her arrival, our guest changed completely. She turned into a talking woman I used to know to a dumb person. My Mum did the best she can to bring her out of such a mood, but it was becoming worse and at some point, she began withdrawing herself from my parents. She almost made my parents go insane, and she was forced to leave our house. After many attempts, my parents had to involve the village vigilantes to bounce her out.
It is a failure on your part to always be ungrateful to those that gave you their inn. Most times, while people begrudge on rendering these beautiful services is because they are very specific to those who would not appreciate such a sacred gesture. It befuddled me at times to experience thankless people. It diminishes the emphasis mounted on sacrifice and it can make anyone become uneasy about welcoming people. The problem with ungrateful people is that they shut down the way for other genuine and honourable souls who need help. The place of letting people in our inn, shouldn’t be defied with ingratitude. It is an abuse of human charity for anyone to bite a finger that has comforted him or her. It is worrying and at the same time very degrading of your personality to ignore a little sign of warmth you are given.
As a human, however, your definition of giving to others shouldn’t be tied on the benefits you get, rather on the ability to see yourself as a provider of hope to the downtrodden, an immigrant, a restless soul, a forgotten family and many others. Keep in mind that your availability to relinquish your inn for people is a fascinating work of art that comes from the heart. It is a just feeling for others who are faced with the incompleteness of life struggles. And when you are rightly agreeing to this law of nature, which is giving home to the homeless, you are obviously creating rooms in different places of your journey. I have once been stranded in a country very near to Nigeria, if not for the assistance of a family I met selling in the shop, I may have not this day to tell about it. There is how nature works, it is a give-and-take thing and it works without any influence or bribe. And there could be multiple blessings that come with giving up your inn for others and it is quite vivid in the experience of Abraham and the angels (cf. Gen. 18).
