"A Place at the Table" (Miranda Harris and Jo Swinney)

TITLE: A Place at the Table: Faith, Hope and Hospitality
AUTHOR: Miranda Harris and Jo Swinney
PUBLISHER: London, UK: Hodder and Stoughton, 2022, (224 pages).

What is hospitality? What has the practice of hospitality got to do with faith and hope? How does that help to cultivate friendship and community building? These basic blocks of community are covered in this fascinating book about the life and work of the founders of Arocha. Containing many stories of people in the Arocha community as well as from the Bible, one gets to see how ordinary objects like a house, a table, and a meal can help one build impactful relationships. It touches the core of what it means to be human: The need for DMC, or Deeply Meaningful Conversations. In fact, the core reason for acts of hospitality is to enable such connections to take place in an ordinary setting. The authors make a powerful case to learn to host meals out of our real ordinary selves instead of trying to present a perfect version of ourselves before we can learn to offer hospitality. Not only can we offer others a place at the table, we too can learn to be comfortable in our own skin when at the table. With the table as the centerpiece of conversations and connections, the six chapters in the book cover a range of activities from the preparation to go to the table to the activities after the table. Interspersed throughout the book are snippets from the late Miranda's journalism where she shares insightful observations about her challenges and rewards of ministry, reflections on the Bible, and spiritual lessons learned. There are also poems, prayers, and brief meditations on Scripture. The six chapters with my brief annotations are:

1. Hunger: Not just for food but for deep human connections
2. Preparation: The way we open our homes for others should parallel the way God opens His heart for people
3. Welcome: The importance as well as the consequences of using one's home for hospitality
4. At the Table: Connecting with people over food and friendship
5. The Clean-Up: Reflections on the clean-up process and how we need inner cleansing as well
6. The Forever Feast: The Perfect feast and fellowship to look forward to.

The gist of the book is essentially summed up by the title and subtitle of the book. 

My Thoughts
I was shocked when I first heard the news of the Harris' accident. What was more numbing was the passing of Miranda. Together with her husband Peter, they have led A Rocha and pioneered a lot of good work in terms of caring for the environment. Undergirding such efforts is a caring heart for people. Through the stories and narratives shared by the author of this book and the late Miranda's journals, readers get to experience a bit of the amazing hospitality and goodwill coming out of the family's work of love. It is also a book that honours the life of Miranda. As a Regent Alum who has benefitted from the community attributes under the green roof, many of these attributes resonate with me, especially Community. 

I like the constant reminder of the power of hospitality. Like the word "hospital," hospitality is a powerful word to help us reconnect with fellow sufferers or people with various struggles in life. What I find helpful is the exhortation that anyone of us can begin a hospitality ministry without having to be perfect. Sometimes, we let our desire for perfection becomes a barrier to hosting other people. Sometimes, it might even be an excuse to hide our fear of opening up our homes. While hospitality is a great way to open up new conversational opportunities, not everyone is comfortable with opening up their homes. For that, I will suggest they work with others who are willing to offer their homes, while we work as facilitator. Just as there are those who are more comfortable facilitating discussions, there are also people who are more comfortable just making available their homes. One of the things I often teach is that "Hosts do not lead." That frees hosts to let others take charge of programs while they make available their homes. 

This book definitely helps us refocus on the power of hospitality and how we can turn this into opportunities for sharing and caring. The first step might be scary but ultimately it is rewarding for the privilege to connect more authentically and openly with another person. We need hospitality more in this increasingly divided world. Perhaps, read this book to learn tips on how to start one. 

The late Miranda Harris was a co-founder of A Rocha. Married to Peter, she had four children and eight grandchildren. Miranda loved hosting the ever-expanding A Rocha family and was known for her prolific letter-writing, engaging communication style and ability to connect deeply with anyone she met. This is her first book.
 
Jo Swinney is Miranda’s eldest daughter and mother of two of her grandchildren. Jo wrote her first book in her twenties and has continued writing and editing books, articles, and Bible notes ever since. She has inherited her mother’s love of hospitality, food, and the God from whom all good gifts come.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade

---

This book has been provided courtesy of Nicholas Brealey US, Hodder & Stoughton, and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.