Hospitality in Writing

Have you ever read any books by Shel Silverstein? Since 1963, his poems and drawings have delighted countless children and adults. Even though we lost “Uncle Shelby” in 1999, new generations are still discovering and enjoying his work today.

I appreciate his wit and wisdom and simple illustrations in The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up to name a few. He is silly and sad, yet profound in his work. Few have ever done it better.

But in Where The Sidewalk Ends, Shel does something really special. He graciously invites us into his world with this poem titled, Invitation:

If you are a dreamer, come in,

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,

A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer …

If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire

For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.

Come in!

Come in!

I love that. The idea of showing the reader they are welcome, to invite them to come in and ‘sit a spell’ is an idea as old as Genesis, the first book to display hospitality.

The Bible teaches that acts of hospitality or inhospitality reveal the good or evil of a person or a community.

Christianity Today.

Our Christianity is on full display in our work. We willingly allow others in to observe us in our most vulnerable state, where our beliefs are vividly displayed in our prose. In the Bible, hospitality was shown in the host’s home. In the craft of writing, our readers take us into their homes when they buy our work. It would appear that we become the guest, but actually, we want them to enter the world we built and enjoy themselves. Therefore, we remain the hosts.

So how do we nurture a spirit of biblical hospitality in our work so a reader knows we love Jesus?

I believe we must come to the end of ourselves. We cannot trust or boast in our achievements, we cannot wallow in our rejections. We must find ourselves at the altar laying it all down at the feet of our Lord and Savior. We must allow the Holy Spirit to open us to the mystery of inviting others in, not just to our work, but our lives.

Come in! Come in! Sit with me in my world for a while. Let me offer you a little bit of me, let me warm your soul and make you feel welcome. And while you’re here, I pray you see Christ in me.

Grace to you and peace be multiplied,

KD Holmberg

K. D. Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and website kdholmberg.com