I also have been slowly reading through Eugene Peterson's memoirs in his book called, The Pastor. I recently stumbled upon a chapter called "Eucharistic Hospitality." Eugene wrote this chapter as a tribute to his wife, Jan, and her ministry that complemented his for so many years.
I was touched by the simplicity of Jan's calling and the fervency of her response to it. Here's what Eugene writes:
"Twenty years or so after these hospitality instincts and skills in Jan had matured and been noticed, we had both of us been asked to speak to a group...her assignment was to give a talk on hospitality. After she made her presentation, someone asked, "Do you have any pearls of wisdom that you can give us for raising our children?"
She had decided to be as specific and down-to-earth as she could. No generalities, no big goals like taking in strangers or working in a soup kitchen for the homeless, but just zero in on one manageable task: gather the family for the evening meal. Every evening.
Her answer: "Have a family meal every evening....There are no 'pearls' out there that you can use - no scripture verses to hand out, advice to guide, prayers to tap into. As we live and give witness to Jesus to our children and whoever else, we are handing out seeds, not pearls, and seeds need soil in which to germinate. A meal is soil just like that. It provides a daily relational context in which everything you say and don't say, feel or don't feel, God's Word and snatches of gossip, gets assimilated along with the food and becomes you, but not you by yourself - you and your words and acts embedded in acts of love and need, acceptance and doubt. Nothing is abstract or in general when you are eating a meal together. You realize, don't you, that Jesus didn't drop pearls around Galilee for people as clues to find their way to God or their neighbors. He ate meals with them. And you can do what Jesus did. Every evening take and receive the life of Jesus around your table."
