HOSPITALITY is what Scargill is all about!
When I first arrived here 6 weeks ago, I was shown to my room, and this is what greeted me:
A vase of fresh cut flowers (which I always love), a couple hand-written welcome notes, including tiny hand-made origami, and a bar of chocolate. I felt so loved by these people that I had just met. I had a distinct feeling that I had been prayed for, and my room felt like a blessing. Later, I learned that all guests at Scargill really are prayed for.
Every afternoon at 1:45, the members of the Community gather in this area of the chapel to pray for lots of different things, and they always pray for the guests.
In the tradition of St Benedict, they welcome all guests that come to their door as if they were Christ.
There are many ways they show this. And one of them is "TEA".
I didn't really understand about this tea thing in the beginning. On my first day, someone offered me a cup of tea. I said politely said "no thank you" because I was not thirsty at the time. But I could tell they were disappointed...almost like I had hurt their feelings. Now, after 6 weeks of watching tea and coffee being served 4 times a day, (plus bedtime hot chocolate every night) I am beginning to understand that "TEA" has nothing to do with thirst. It is about showing hospitality.
The sun lounge fills up everyday for mid morning tea and biscuits (cookies)
and also for 4:00 tea and cake.
Which can mean warm scones with cream and jam...
or homemade cakes...
And it has nothing to do with thirst or hunger. Its just a time to be together and talk.
For the kitchen team, it means washing countless teapots and cups and spoons everyday,
but that's just what they do.
(more about that in a minute*)
And of course, the guests are always fed well with good food in abundance...
and the tables are carefully laid for each meal.
It takes a small army to make it happen 3 times a day.
And there are always special little touches of caring all over the house,
like fresh flowers in the windowsills...
All of this and much more makes the guests that come to Scargill feel cared for. Sometimes people come here with a burden or problem and they can find people to talk to and pray with. Recently, I overheard a guest commenting to another guest as they were leaving, "This place just feels like home to me. I feel wrapped in love."
Last week, I talked to a guest who comes to Scargill several times a year for a few days. He lives alone, and said he likes to come because he enjoys being served, and eating meals with other people around a table sometimes instead of eating by himself all the time. So, in that way, Scargill becomes like an extended family. (Makes me think of all the people who live alone, and how sharing a simple meal together can mean so much.)
That's why Scargill's motto is:
Lives shared, Lives transformed.
Each day for lunch, there is always some LOVE soup.
(Left-Over-Vegetable-Everything)
So enjoy this poem by Helen Brocklehurst, a former Community Member.
The final 2 verses explain it all.
It's lunchtime; as you enter
there's a kettle by the door.
It's full of soup and made of things
you might have seen before.
It's made from last night's vegetables
and some of Tuesday's too,
a glut of parsley from the greenhouse
and a bit of Thursday's stew.
When tidying the cellar
we found parsnips left to rot
but we chopped off all the bad bits
and the rest are in the pot.
There was a funny-looking beetroot-
we couldn't serve it whole
but in the mix and liquidised
it ends up in your bowl.
There's even crouton garnish
made from this morning's toast
and a lonely Yorkshire pudding,
the last of Sunday's roast.
Our daily offering's unique,
it's never the same twice!
The recipe sounds awful
but surprisingly it's nice.
So join us at the table,
you're welcome as you are-
with gifts and strengths and weaknesses,
sorrows, joys, and scars.
You'll learn the thing that nourishes,
the love you find outpoured
is made from broken folks like us,
creatively restored.
*Last week our beloved dishwasher (aka "The Hobart") broke for a few days, so everyone pitched in to wash everything by hand.
So I adapted this old poem:
Thank God for dirty dishes.
They have a tale to tell.
While others may go hungry,
Scargill's eating very well.
With BioMass hot water,
We really mustn't fuss.
By the growing stack of evidence,
God's been VERY GOOD to us!
Moral of the Story: "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing
some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."
Hebrews 13:2
Jesus said: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40)
Till next time,
Deep Peace and LOVE Soup,😉
Audrey
