On Golden Sessions & ‘Life Together’: Weekend Whimsy
The table, curiosity, and beauty as some sort of apologetic
When I was 22, I almost walked away from my Christian faith, exhausted from carrying the burden of all my spiritual and intellectual doubts surrounding my religious tradition. That is when the hospitality of L’Abri gently caught me. This ‘shelter for honest questions' enveloped me in a different kind of apologetic, a holistic defence for Christianity embodied by discussions over well-cooked meals, gardening together, and collective early morning prayers in the chapel. While L'Abri receives all sorts of individuals in the same state I arrived in, it does not rush to dish out correct answers to the cynics. Instead, they invite you in to come and participate in daily life among Christian community, with insights oozing out over your stay there.
Beauty accents every part of the experience, with fresh flowers peppering each table setting and tea cart. Nestled in the setting of a gorgeous English manor, you hear poems and historic prayers read at breakfast. Every day at lunch, someone poses a question to discuss. Something about this environment of beauty, this unassuming model of hospitality, and an atmosphere of collective curiosity all struck me. I left wanting to be a Christian, deeply persuaded in a completely new way, that the truths of my faith were true.
‘Life Together’?
Communal life is supposed to be a trademark of our Christian communities, we are to be known by our love for each other. We hear this ad nauseam, but this doesn’t really come naturally to us in the West, a culture that has engineered our social architecture towards the individual and the nuclear family. So churches promote community life like some kind of program or campaign, as painfully exhibited in this reel below, making fun of forced pitches for ‘life together’.
But I think this is a harsh critique and doesn’t ring true to my own experience of being thoroughly hemmed into church families, with mentors and peers who become enmeshed in my calendar and emotional life. I believe the church does indeed have something special in our status as a body or congregational being—a kind of glowing sacred responsibility, one that we often struggle to enact in the world. As people get lonelier and more isolated, as Gen Z struggles with intense fears of abandonment1, and as the presence of ChatGPT girlfriends and Elon Musk’s new Tesla robots encroach, our community life seems more bazaar yet more intriguing than ever to those who are not religious.
Oh, Golden Sessions
Something I adore about the culture of Oxford is its prioritisation of intellectual and aesthetic stimulation over entertainment. Evensongs, debates, book launches, symphonies and public lectures are booked out by the student body. Pub debriefs always follow. This is something that has begun to reshape the way I think about my own hospitality—to move beyond mere entertainment and into more poetry read-aloud, book clubs, and film nights—ready to huddle around the warmth of ideas, hearkening to what Lewis calls ‘Golden Sessions’. Read the quote below
“In a perfect Friendship this Appreciative love is, I think, often so great and so firmly based that each member of the circle feels, in his secret heart, humbled before the rest. Sometimes he wonders what he is doing there among his betters. He is lucky beyond desert to be in such company. Especially when the whole group is together; each bringing out all that is best, wisest, or funniest in all the others. Those are the golden sessions; when four or five of us after a hard day's walk have come to our inn; when our slippers are on, our feet spread out toward the blaze and our drinks are at our elbows; when the whole world, and something beyond the world, opens itself to our minds as we talk.. Life — natural life — has no better gift to give. Who could have deserved it?”- C.S. Lewis
These thoughts are far too brief to cover such a topic, but I’ll leave it here for now.
Below you’ll find a few resource recommendations that I’ve enjoyed lately, some lightly related to hospitality, some not. I’m lucky to have a husband who cooks world-class feasts with love, you’ll see pictures of some of his creations throughout this post.
Some Listens & Reads for You
Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of a Sacramental Tapestry
I have to confess that apart from the tastiness of the readings you suggest, it's a wonderful (green) door to my favorite city. Thanks for sharing these brushstrokes of Oxford and for highlighting the blessings and challenges that come from aiming for a "life together" in cultures that seem designed for life apart. I loved discovering L'Abri through this post; it looks fascinating.
Thoroughly delighted and encouraged by your words.