Last Sunday we were part of the Hands Across the Bong Bridge event to mark the 250^th anniversary of Flag Day. I wasn’t sure what to expect as we parked our car near the base of the bridge on the Duluth side. People were gathering on both sides of this bridge that links Duluth and Superior. We were all planning to meet in the middle. We joined the rally and made our way up the pedestrian bridge.

It was a super windy day and so flags whipped in the wind.  There were so many flags flying –  Stars and Stripes, Minnesota Flags, Pride Flags, and of course the Minnesota Rebel Loon Flag. Over 300 people joined in this demonstration. And although we came by ourselves, we quickly were joined by so many folks we knew. It was a joyful event complete with frog costumes, rainbows, lots of cars honking and friends both old and even some new.

It was too windy for people to carry signs. But there were six carefully spaced signs as you walked up the bridge. Together they said, “This Is What Democracy Looks Like”. The folks holding them had to grasp them ever so tightly as the strong wind threatened to blow them away. In so many ways I felt it was a strong metaphor for what our nation is facing right now.  Hold on tight and don’t let the basic rights of all people get blown away.

The Hands Across the Bong Bridge event stood for me in stark contrast to the event that was being held later that night on the south lawn of the White House, the UFC Freedom 250. There was so much money spent on building a wire mesh cage so men could pummel each other bloody. As Robert Reich wrote in a recent post, “What does a cage match on the White House lawn have to do with America’s 250^th Anniversary? Just this: Trump and his regime are seeking to project an America that’s like the winner of a cage match. Trump sees everything and everyone in terms of dominance and submission and he’s hellbent on submission.”  For me, the championship winner doing a backflip off the cage and shaking hands with the president is not what democracy looks like.

I was thinking about both of those Flag Day events on Monday afternoon as I went again to the county jail to spend time with some of the women there. These women are enduring their very own cage event in system that often pummels them. The question in my heart that day was would hostility or hospitality define us as a people and as individuals?

As often happens, the reading for that week fit with my question. The Bible excerpt was the story of Abraham in Genesis 18 when he makes an elaborate meal for three strangers. Abraham has made the long journey from Ur with his family and is now in Canaan. He has pitched his tents near the oaks of Mamre. It is in the shade of these trees that he makes a place for hospitality.

Abraham offers these three strangers  a place to rest and gives them water. He then prepares with help from Sarah, his wife, a meal of bread, curds, milk and meat. It is a feast.  My opening question for the women that day was what is your favorite meal to make for company? Their answers made me hungry. One  woman loved to make breakfast anytime of the day., especially biscuits and gravy. Another said she didn’t cook much but made a mean spaghetti. Another talked about her mother’s beef stroganoff. And that led to another woman sharing how her mother always had enough food for any kid in the neighborhood. Her mom always had big pots of something on the stove.

Abraham was a lot like her mom. He had pots on the stove for everyone in the neighborhood. Abraham is the father of all three monotheistic faiths. Hospitality is central to Jewish, Christian and Islamic belief. And it is when we make room at the table that messages of hope can be revealed.  It is after the meal that Abraham learns from his guests that he will have a son. Sarah in her old age laughs this off. But in due time Isaac, whose name means laughter, is born.

Henri Nouwen, a Catholic priest and professor, writes in Reaching Out, “When hostility is converted into hospitality then fearful strangers can become guests. . . whereby guest and host can reveal their most precious gifts and bring new life to others . . The term hospitality, therefore, should not be limited to its literal sense of receiving a stranger in our house but as a fundamental attitude toward our fellow human being, which can be expressed in a great variety of ways.”