{"id":5359,"date":"2013-12-13T17:00:05","date_gmt":"2013-12-13T17:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/?p=5359"},"modified":"2013-12-17T21:39:35","modified_gmt":"2013-12-17T21:39:35","slug":"welcoming-the-stranger-a-qa-with-jonathan-wilson-hartgrove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2013\/12\/welcoming-the-stranger-a-qa-with-jonathan-wilson-hartgrove\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcoming the Stranger: A Q&A with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Two of my favorite Patheos bloggers \u2013 Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove<\/a> and Bruce Reyes-Chow<\/a>\u00a0have published important books this past year that speak of the Christmas message in different ways (and make great stocking stuffers as a result). I\u2019m sharing a bit about each book and a brief Q&A with the authors today and Monday on the blog.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThey come here with pressing needs, and they have taught me hope. I\u2019ve seen the miracle repeated time and again, right here in my home. A knock comes at our door, and we are saved.\u201d \u2014 Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, from Strangers At My Door<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove\u2019s new book Strangers At My Door: The True Story of Finding Jesus in Unexpected Guests<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>recounts the stories he and his wife Leah have lived since moving into a depressed, inner-city neighborhood in Durham, NC and opening their door to anyone who knocked. Inspired by the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger, Wilson-Hartgrove began to look for Jesus in the outcast, the homeless, the hungry, the fatherless, and the drug-addict who came knocking at his door.<\/p>\n

Since starting their hospitality house a decade ago, some 60 people have walked through the Wilson-Hartgrove\u2019s doors, some staying for days, others for years. Sometimes, a knock has brought incredible joy and surprise; other times, risk and disappointment. But as we learn through Jonathan\u2019s beautiful and searingly honest story-telling, the greater gift of this radical way of living has been deep transformation, \u201can invitation into a new family where all<\/em> of us find a home.\u201d Where complete strangers become brothers and sisters \u2014 and friends \u2014 in the opening of a door.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I asked Jonathan a few questions about his book and the remarkable stories within.<\/p>\n

What inspired Strangers At My Door<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where I grew up we didn\u2019t have live shows downtown. We weren\u2019t on any entertainment circuits (unless you count traveling evangelists). But we had some great local story-tellers. They gathered on the Coke crates at the gas station most evenings. They sat around with their coffee at the Hardees early in the morning. They smoked Camels on the church porch after services and tried to one-up each other.<\/p>\n

Strangers at My Door<\/em>\u00a0is a book of stories. I\u2019ve been living in a hospitality house for the past decade, getting to know people who used to be homeless one story at a time. I tell these stories\u2013in sermons, in classes, in articles. I tell them because they convey the truth I\u2019ve known here. This book was inspired by the thought that maybe I should just write the stories down and let them speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

What is one or two of the greatest \u201ctruths\u201d these stories convey, in your opinion?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What they\u2019ve taught me, I guess, is that we\u2019re all broken and we\u2019re all beautiful. And we\u2019re made for community. But we only find what we\u2019re all looking for by opening ourselves to the other.<\/p>\n

But all of that sounds a little thin to me when I say it. The story tells the truth in a way that you can\u2019t \u201csum up.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you think will surprise people about your book?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe how funny people are. These stories are about people who\u2019ve fallen through the cracks, so they\u2019re filled with tragedy\u2013some so heartbreaking it makes you sick. But people who have to deal with life\u2019s worst use humor to survive. And sometimes laughter is the thing that breaks us open and invites us into community with one another.<\/p>\n

What have you learned about yourself in the process of answering the door, time after time, sometimes literally in the middle of the night? How has this radical hospitality changed your faith?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I suppose it\u2019s akin to what parents learn about themselves caring for children, what children learn caring for their elderly parents. It\u2019s what artists and athletes learn if they\u2019re paying attention: that real life happens when we open ourselves to something beyond ourselves\u2013when we let go, out of control. \u201cWelcome everything,\u201d Rumi says, and I think this is what he\u2019s getting at. I don\u2019t really want to call that \u201cradical.\u201d I want to call it human. I want to say that until we find some way to embrace this mystery in each of our lives, we\u2019ve not begun to live.<\/p>\n

Has \u201cwelcoming the stranger\u201d in such a literal way ever become too much for you and your family?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh sure. Truth be told, some days I\u2019m<\/em> too much for my family. We all have our limits. One thing we learned early is that it takes community to practice hospitality. We couldn\u2019t do this on our own. On the day when I can\u2019t listen to one more story, someone else is here to lend an ear. Sometimes it\u2019s a guy we welcomed years ago. Sometimes the the person he\u2019s listening to\u2013the person he\u2019s welcoming\u2013is me.<\/p>\n

What was the hardest thing about writing this book? \u00a0What was the most life-giving?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I still can\u2019t believe I get to write everyday. It\u2019d be dishonest, really, to call this hard work.<\/p>\n

But each book does have its own internal challenges. With this book, I had to listen closely to hear where these stories were taking me. But that turned out to be the most life-giving part of the process. By the end of the book, I was sitting with this peculiar family that God has been knitting together here over the past decade, listening to Vincent Harding tell us that we are building up a new world and how builders most be strong. And I knew that God has given us all the strength we need to press on together, one day at a time.<\/p>\n

What does this book have to do with Christmas? (What makes this a great Christmas gift?)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, the great gift of Christmas is that Mary welcomed Jesus into her life. Then the field workers came in to be with them. Then the gurus from the East. Pretty soon the Holy Family had a little hospitality house going, showing us what God\u2019s new family looks like.<\/p>\n

I know the ads teach us to want a new iPhone or a get-away trip or at least a novel that will make us feel happy. But I think God still wants to give us this peculiar family where the poor find bread and the rich find meaning because we find one another. I hope\u00a0Strangers at My Door<\/em>\u00a0gives folks a taste of that. It\u2019s what I want for Christmas.<\/p>\n

Who do you hope reads your book, and what is the message you hope they take away?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope it\u2019s a book you can give to your aunt who loves a good story and to your uncle who cares about \u201csocial issues.\u201d And I hope it finds its way to that nephew who went off to college and wants to change the world but thinks people of faith don\u2019t have a clue. I hope it\u2019s a book for people who love Jesus enough to care about what he said: \u201cI was a stranger and you welcomed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

What will they take away? Well, I guess I sort of hope the story takes them in.<\/p>\n

For more from Wilson-Hartgrove, visit his blog, The Everyday Awakening.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Next week<\/a>, I talk to Bruce Reyes-Chow about his new book \u201cBut I Don\u2019t See You As Asian\u201d: Curating Conversations About Race<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two of my favorite Patheos bloggers \u2013 Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Bruce Reyes-Chow\u00a0have published important books this past year that speak of the Christmas message in different ways (and make great stocking stuffers as a result). I\u2019m sharing a bit about each book and a brief Q&A with the authors today and Monday on the blog. 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