Week 38: The Nine Virtues: Hospitality

125 words min, 375 words max. 
Adequate/Meets Criteria Requirements:
Subjective combined with objective approach [e.g., ["This is what it means (dictionary definition); this is what it means to me."]
Note: Dictionary definitions will not be included as part of the word count. 
Dedicants may also include other virtues, if desired, and compare them to the nine. 
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Hospitality

Our own Druidry Defintion: "Acting as both a gracious host and an appreciative guest, involving benevolence, friendliness, humor, and the honoring of "a gift for a gift."

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definition: “given to generous and cordial reception of guests. Promising or suggesting generous and cordial welcome.  Offering a pleasant or sustaining environment.”

There is a word used in ADF that a year ago meant very little to me, but now means a great deal. That word pertains to this very virtue, and that word is “Ghosti”. The root word for both "guest" and "host" form the Indo-European word “ghos-ti”, and the concept of ghosti has become synonymous with how I view hospitality through the eyes of ADF ritual and worship.

Hospitality is more than opening your home to strangers or loved ones and giving in good heart. Hospitality is far more than being a generous, compassionate host. “Ghosti” is defined as reciprocal duties of hospitality which extend much farther than that of host alone. 

At first, I struggled with this idea. Hospitality had always meant giving, and giving alone. This includes acts of kindness, when one is able to so, inviting friends over to celebrate holidays, giving friends and family refuge when they fall on hard times. 

​But then I realized, throughout my life, I have cared for many people believing it my place to share kindness and hospitality. Some guests wore out their welcome quickly choosing not to respect me. Other guests did everything they could to show their gratitude and the balance between giving and receiving made the experience rewarding on both sides. One cannot experience a healthy hospitality relationship from only one side; it takes both. 
I believe this true of the Gods as well. If we spend all of our time asking them for advice and help, begging for signs and answers, wouldn't they start to feel taken advantage of, after a while? What benefit do they receive for these actions? In ADF ritual there is tremendous focus on making offerings/sacrifices to the Three Kindreds and to personal deities, before asking for an omen and blessing. In fact, the majority of the ADF ritual is all about making invocations and offerings. In doing so, we extend the balance of the guest-host relationship and show the virtue of hospitality.