Biblical Hospitality

I was inspired to do my first biblical quilt series on hospitality, when I heard a pastor talk about the Genesis story of Abraham and Sarah welcoming three strangers. Under the oaks of Mamre they welcomed their guests with a place to wash and sleep and a good meal. In return the guests gave their hosts the unexpected gift of the news that Sarah would have a child. For this octogenarian couple, it met at a deep level a desire they had given up fulfilling. The pastor related this biblical story to his experience of working in a dying city church and the church welcoming the strangers on their doorstep, the homeless and receiving the unexpected gift of new life coming to the church. I became fascinated with the multi-dimensional themes of biblical hospitality and decided to do this series, which were shown at Wesley Seminary in 2004, my first major one person exhibition.

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