Giving hospitality

Yesterday just as I was going off duty at the hospice – I was leaving already – the phone rang. Given that I was the only one in the infirmary just then, I picked it up.  As often happens at that time (it is when offices close) there was a woman on the end of the line asking for a place at the hospital for her terminally-ill uncle. It’s the kind of call we get all the time: the woman’s voice held not only her worry about finding room with us, but all the suffering that the close relatives of terminal patients have to face.  Knowing what a relief it is for those in pain to be able to talk to someone, I decided to give some of my time to this person and to her situation which, at the end of the day, meant giving my time to the sick patient.  Why did I do it? Because I could do so, because didn’t want to dismiss the woman at the other end of the line off with a stock phrase like, “Hold  on, I’ll transfer you to a colleague. I happen to be off duty.”  I didn’t want to make her feel like a parcel being passed from one person to another. So I made her a present of a small package of hospitality. Little packages of hospitality can be given at any time and anywhere. The important thing is to decide to do it.