Heart of Hospitable Service

 In my lifetime I have seen three examples of how NOT to be hospitable.

The first occurred 11 years ago when I made a booking for afternoon tea in the hotel lounge cafe, hosting two friends. While I may have made such booking without the knowledge of the lounge manager, which is unfortunately a big no-no and a mistake I would come to learn from the hard way and which I have repented and vowed never to repeat ever again in the years since, I was treated very nicely, apart from one girl. She basically scowled at our entry and proceeded to show us a black face when we made our order.

Was this how a future manager, as she was a management trainee back then, supposed to behave? You decide.

The second was during my stint in a resort up north. My hiring manager was outright abusive, racist and egotistical. She vehemently used her own behaviours and actions as a yardstick for measuring the commitment of all that reported to her, accusing people of laziness when they opposed her and does not believe in learning curves and individual flairs. Suffice to say I learned my lesson of how not to behave as a leader-manager from her example.

The third... well, is a betrayal. That this happened at church, where we were supposed to mature as Christlike, is all the more concerning.

I will be the first to admit that him and I, we don't see eye to eye at all. Every time we get together, we always seem to lock horns at some issue or topic. As if this is not enough, he is a full-time staff member and in charge of the hospitality ministry. To my knowledge he lets his temper get in the way of his judgment on more than one occasion. That such behaviour is tolerated in this church deeply disturbs me.

On one such occasion, he had admitted to me that he basically betrayed my confidentiality by revealing a secret that I shared with him in confidence, supposedly for the sake of the ministry I volunteered in. I am not saying that I don't disagree with that, but he could have handled it, and the subsequent fallouts, better as a senior Christian.

Needless to say, I have been stressed by the breach of confidentiality and trust, which in itself took a long time to build. Jesus would have had me let it go, but as a flawed human creature myself, it is taking its time...

Till next time then.