Hospitality

The Rune of Hospitality

I saw a stranger yestreen;

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 strangers guise,

Often, often, often,

Goes the Christ in the strangers guise.

Dear Sarah,

  My copy of this Rune of Hospitality has been on my kitchen wall since I bought it at St. Margaret's in London in 1979.  When I got home from that trip I immediately went looking through my collection of vintage picture frames and found the perfect thing with a bit of blue and gilt around the edges; it fits in where ever I live.  This little card doesn't hang as art in my kitchen. It's a life directive for me, not my guests, so I always put it out of the way in my workspace (glad for the glass that protects it).   It has become part of how I think.  Glad to share my secret, thanks for asking.

All my best,
Kate