Perseverance in Prayer

10Mar
And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
-Luke 11:5-8


In our recent EfM class, we touched on the concept of hospitality as a spiritual virtue. We often think of it as temporary act of kindness, offering shelter, a dinner invitation or a desire to make others feel welcome or comfortable. With a deeper exploration of the meaning, it can represent the soul’s ability to be a host, not just for others, but for divine light where personal transformation occurs when we share our light and our lives with others.


Today’s Lectionary recognizes Harriet Ross Tubman, slave, spy, and soldier, who dedicated her life to bringing others to freedom. She stands as a quiet, powerful catechism on hospitality—the radical welcome of a neighbor in chains to the hope of freedom. Her faith was not her private conviction or tucked away in a pew on Sunday morning; it was a luminous call to love in action, rooted in the Christian understanding that every person bears the image of God and deserves dignity.


From the earliest days, Tubman drew strength from prayer, Scripture, and a steadfast community of faith in her African Methodist Church. She believed she was guided by a Providence that spoke through dreams, signs, and the trust of friends who believed freedom was a divine gift. This belief translated into an ethic of hospitality that risked everything: she returned time and again to dangerous places, inviting enslaved people to trust the community that stood with her, and guiding them toward the open door of liberty.


Hospitality for Tubman meant more than shelter; it meant present-moment solidarity. Through the Underground Railroad, communities opened their homes, their food, their courage, and their resources—sanctuaries where fear could be met with faith, where a traveler’s breath could be steadied by a whispered blessing, and where a released slave could glimpse the horizon as a shared blessing.


Tubman’s faith invites us to explore hospitality in a spiritual dimension and embrace the most vulnerable—migrants, refugees, neighbors in fear, the LGBTQ community. It asks us to couple courage with mercy, to refuse indifference, and to build bridges where walls would stand. If hospitality is the liturgy of loving one another, then Harriet Tubman’s life remains an enduring hymn—a testimony that faith calls us to open doors, extend hands, and labor for freedom with every neighbor who longs to breathe free.  


Her final words, “I go away to prepare a place for you, and where I am ye may be also” (John 14:3), echo the promise of Jesus offering divine hospitality. How does our hospitality measure up today with the treatment of all God’s people in our communities?


Musical Reflection - No More, No More - Richie Havens


Grant us mercy that we may love ourselves and one another in the divine light of your hospitality that you show us each day. Amen.

Prayer

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