August 2006 Discussion Questions

Adults

This parable puts a different slant on the diversity question. The little girl – the newcomer – feared the diversity and strangeness of her new situation, not the other way around! How might a newcomer view your parish or your neighborhood? Are you diverse or somewhat homogeneous? Is your welcome active and intentional or do you wait for the visitor to make the first move?

An old Celtic prayer of hospitality ends with these words, “Often, often, often,/Goes the Christ in the stranger's guise.” (The full text of this lovely prayer is included below after the last question for children.) When have you met Christ by welcoming a stranger?

Without realizing it, the little boy used a “shared wisdom” model to design his logo. Shared wisdom assumes that everyone has a part of the wisdom and none of us has all of it. By collaborating, we “share the wisdom” to arrive at the best possible outcome. When and where have you seen this model in action?

Teens

The focus in the parable is on the two new children and how they coped. The untold story is how they might have reacted differently if they had been warmly welcomed. When and how have you welcomed a newcomer or a stranger?

Jesus says in Matthew 25:35, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” It means that welcoming a stranger is more than just good manners and simple hospitality – it can be an encounter with Christ! Read the rest of that passage – Matt 35:31-39. When and where have you met or helped Jesus in others?

One of the children in the story was afraid of the diversity in her new classroom. The other children seemed too “different” and she cut herself off from them. How do you react to people who are different from you – who dress differently or talk differently or have different interests and ideals?

Children

There is an old saying that “Two heads are better than one!” How was this story an example of that? When have “two heads been better than one” for you?

Have you met anyone this summer who was new to your neighborhood or your daycare or your camp or play group? Did you help make that new person feel welcome? How?

Who do you know who looks different or talks differently than you? Does that “difference” make any difference to you? Why or why not?

A Rune of Hospitality

I met a stranger yestere'en;
I put food in the eating place,
Drink in the drinking place,
Music in the listening place;
And, in the sacred name of the Triune,
He blessed myself and my house,
My cattle and my dear ones.

And the lark said in her song,
Often, often, often,
Goes the Christ in the stranger's guise;
Often, often, often,
Goes the Christ in the stranger's guise.