The dictionary definition of hospitality is favoring the health, growth and comfort of new arrivals. The message of God from the angel Gabriel was a new arrival. And Mary favored the growth of this new arrival. Her spirit was filled with the hospitality of faith. Hospitality is the gift of faith-space , which God gives us that we might receive his message.
Hospitality is spiritual space, it is silence, listening, noticing and observing.
It is receiving, valuing and honoring. Every Wednesday Pastors Helen Nickel and Jeff Henrichs and I meet at Barnes and Noble in the coffee shop to offer mutual support, encouragement and accountability. I was amazed she had remembered what I had ordered the week before. And joy radiated from her spirit. The word for her action is hospitality.