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Do you love your alien neighbors?

Brice

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Brice

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Although this quote would appeal to Christians, I think it’s generally sound advice for everyone: Love your aliens!

Loving the alien is a clear calling for the follower of Christ. In Paul’s list of “Marks of the True Christian” in Romans chapter 12, we are told in verse 12 to “extend hospitality to strangers.” What we translate as hospitality here is Paul’s use of a Greek word philoxenia, which is literally the love of aliens. In English we have the word xenophobia–the fear of aliens–but we don’t have the word xenophilia, which might mean the love of aliens. Hospitality is more than tea and crackers. Paul’s list of Marks of the True Christian opens with the easily recognized philadelphia in verse 10. Paul says practice brotherly love–philadelphia–which all the more sets up the listener for the closing of that list where philoxenia–alien love–in verse 12 leaps off the page. It screams out at me: Love the ALIEN! THIS is Christian hospitality. THIS is what a Good Neighbor does. LOVE THE ALIEN.


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August 26, 2008 | Filed Under General Forum 

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5 Responses to “Do you love your alien neighbors?”

  1. 1
    Jan
    Jan Says:
    August 26th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

    I love the intent of the idea of xenophilia, the act of loving the alien, in deed, not just word. The thrust of this description can, indeed, be applied anywhere if people will extend themselves.

    After about a year of meeting with immigrant women in an conversational English class, I was struck by the utter acceptance each person felt toward the other. It wasn’t a matter of whether or not they liked each other or whether they’d broken bread with each other, but the latter helps.

    They were experiencing life with and through each other and had gotten to know each other so well, there was thorough acceptance of each other.

    They came to love the alien.

    I was caught up in the day to day of what we were doing, how they were interacting, idioms, etc., but I recall one day, a day that is printed indelibly on my mind. It was as if I’d stepped backward and was viewing the class from the other side of the room.

    Things were flowing smoothly, very smoothly. There was real give and take, no half measures. No superficiality, only authenticity and a genuine extension of themselves and an appreciation, I guess you’d say unconditional love.

    And I stood there, glued to the spot, speechless . . . and this was the recognition that came to mind:

    “This is how peace is made.”

    … a Buddhist woman from Korea, an Islamic woman from Iran, an atheist woman from Kazakhstan, a Greek Orthodox Christian women from Romania, and me, of no religion, but spiritual.

    A small class, intimate. . .no way of avoiding each other. I was stunned.

    Slowly, painstakingly, we had gone through a process that created peace. The women were comfortable enough to ask any question and if the question had a bit of ignorance to it, that was fine, because the intention was good, and the person answering made no judgment and answered with full respect. It was truly a thing of beauty.

    My eyes are tearing up remembering that moment in time. It was so beautiful.

    Today, those same women are steadfast friends and they meet once a week at the local coffee shop.

    They had joined a class to polish their English and left with something much richer, the means to attain peace…to love the alien.

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  2. 2
    Brice
    Brice Says:
    August 26th, 2008 at 6:01 pm

    That’s a beautiful story! Thanks for sharing this, Jan!! :)

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  3. 3
    miyon
    miyon Says:
    August 26th, 2008 at 10:16 pm

    Jan, this is beautiful like Brice said.

    You know…I am thinking of this quote as I read it: our [TCK’s] “sense of belonging is in the relations to others and families.”

    These immigrant women all come from different states and countries and have different beliefs but once you form relationships with them, we value the relations we have and they would feel like our own family.

    I love that peace… among world :)

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  4. 4
    Unregistered
    mish.wsl Says:
    August 31st, 2008 at 6:03 am

    That was an amazing story Jan. Brings to mind so many things, and the way the world could be run if only we tried.
    At the moment though, when I saw the word ‘neighbour’ in the literal sense, I laughed aloud. My neighbours and I, literally, couldn’t care less for on another!
    Hmmm…Xenophilia…
    I think I’m going to start using that word…=)

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  5. 5
    MichaelP
    MichaelP Says:
    October 19th, 2008 at 8:13 am

    I really liked that classroom picture of peace. And wondered to myself if it was because it was a class of women. I mean that very positively- as in both halves of the brain working, and no testosterone surges leading to Alpha-dog type behavior. :)– Currently, I am the alien, living with my family in a sixth floor apartment in China. As a TCK from Kenya, I flip-flop between great comfort (the markets, the stinky smells, the little kids peeing everywhere, great street food, etc) and discomfort (I struggle with Mandarin after 5 years- thinking of Spanish, Swahili, even Maa words instead of what I need, pollution, no visible mountains, people EVERYWHERE, etc.) We have some Wonderful Chinese friends but I feel very awkward with the people right around us, our actual neighbors, like the family across the hall in our “gate”. I smile, I greet, I offer to help carry stuff up 6 flights…and we never seem to connect. 2 years as neighbors and I’m still the da biza wai gua ren (the big nose foreigner) who might not be trustable. - I don’t mean to whine, I just have always felt so much more at home with folks when I have been in Africa even though physically I stood out even more…Oddly, our family has been able to love on other Aliens, more easily…Dutch, German, Congolese, British, Cameroonian, Kenyan, Canadian etc, have all come through our home and added to it. Maybe that is why we “practice” hospitality, bc. one can always improve. I’ll keep smiling at my neighbors and looking for that culturally appropriate lever…
    Vivre le Xenophilia!

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