Would You Like An Apple?

"Apple" CC BY 2.0 by Dan Foy Source: Flickr

            "Would you like my apple?"

            The question stunned me this week - not because of the fruit in question; there was no serpent leading me towards temptation! Rather, the person making the offer had walked into the office so quietly I hadn't heard him.

            The offer was made in earnest - a contractor, doing some work in the parish hall, knew that I had been at the desk all morning - we had been discussing my availability, and I had earlier mentioned that if I was absent from the desk I was likely at home grabbing a quick lunch.

            Well, I hadn't left the desk... and the quick lunch didn't happen... so there he was, at the end of his lunch break, offering me his apple.

            This was so much more than an apple being offered - it was radical hospitality. He had brought the apple for himself; it was part of his planned daily intake. Yet there he was, seeing me without so much as an apple - and thus making the offer.

            Such a simple gesture meant so much: it meant that he had truly seen me, and paid attention to me; he understood my situation and wanted to do what he could to make it better.

            It was so simple - would you like an apple - yet the meaning was so clear and rich. "I see you," the offer said. "I respect you. The holy in me acknowledges the holy in you."

            I may have declined the apple - I was headed home for my lunch - but I did accept the offer. For when someone extends the grace of hospitality, it is a gift to honour the holiness of the moment.

            What do you have to offer God - and God's people - today?