Unitarian Universalist minister York made a splash with her slender inspirational books Remembering Well
and Pilgrim Heart; fans won't be disappointed with this third volume, in which she turns her attention to hospitality. What does it mean to encounter the stranger? In a world that seems increasingly anomic, how can we create intimacy? Stories from York's own life exemplify hospitality—she takes a homeless man to a diner for breakfast and finds meaning and closeness in small talk she makes with a man she often sees on her jogging route. (Don't be fooled, though: York, always a personable narrator, doesn't present herself as perfectly virtuous. She also loses her temper in traffic and dislikes waiting in lines.) One especially moving tale is that of Gary Smith, a minister who found himself stranded in a strange town with a toddler and a hospitalized wife. Another minister, whom Smith had never met before, came to the rescue, taking the toddler into his home until Smith's wife had recuperated. Stories like that, York suggests, are not so unusual; most of us can remember a time when we were helped by a stranger. York also offers practical tips: share a meal with friends; think of the Internet not as an atomizing force, but as a place of intimacy where old friends can reconnect; revive that older ethic of neighborliness. Above all, York stresses, hospitality means presence. Readers will find here what they have come to expect from York—wisdom, humor and a glimpse of God's love. (Aug.)
