“Welcome is the best cheer” (Thomas Fuller).
IT’S WORTH THE EFFORT TO BECOME A PERSON WHO CAN BE DESCRIBED AS “WELCOMING.” Being such a person would mean that we are receptive and hospitable. When others interact with us, they sense that we’re open to them, ready to receive with pleasure what they have to offer. And when we consider what’s on the opposite end of this spectrum — aloofness, standoffishness, and resistance — who wouldn’t rather be known as welcoming? It’s the better path to follow by far, especially since it brings out the best in those whom we welcome. When we adopt a receptive character, we tend to find that others have things that are quite wonderful for us to receive!
Would you like to have a gathering (it could be a party, a meeting at work, a social date, or whatever) where there is ample good “cheer”? Would you like for your gathering to be one where there is animation and enjoyment? Then make people feel welcome! As Thomas Fuller said, “Welcome is the best cheer.” Nothing does a better job of generating enjoyment in the hearts of other people than our being genuinely and truly ready to receive with pleasure what they have to offer.
It is a great honor to be welcomed, even in the humblest of circumstances. When I enter your space, whether it be your home, your office, or your picnic table, and you welcome me, I can’t help but feel that you have acknowledged me. You have treated me as someone worthy of your attention in the present moment. To be welcomed is to be treated with dignity. It is to be received with pleasure.
But not only do we honor others, we also learn from them by welcoming them. When we pay the price to become welcoming individuals, we find ourselves being enlightened and enriched. People really do have wonderful things to teach us. We need to welcome them.
Nothing adds more interest, adventure, and intrigue to our lives than welcoming all the people and experiences that come our way. When you arise each morning in a welcoming mood, you just never know what might happen. But whatever it turns out to be, the chances are good that it’ll be something you ought to be interested in.
“Not many sounds in life, and I include all urban and all rural sounds, exceed in interest a knock at the door” (Charles Lamb).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
