Southern Hospitality Tradition

The Tradition of Southern Hospitality “Southern hospitality… not a tangible thing, but an attitude which has been ingrained in southerners forever…” Bee Jackson. Bee Jackson states southern hospitality in perfect truth. Just as a bee’s instinct instructs the bee to concoct honey, so the culture dictates the hospitality of the south. I believe that the Gospel, taught from the pulpits of the many southern churches, inspires this hospitality. My southern experiences fill my mind with memories of welcome, hospitality, and acceptance. Welcome of the highest quality creates a southern experience to remember. Even sayings that southerners use like “Come by anytime!” hint to the geniality of the south. Constant welcome, unconditional hospitality, and accepting ladies generate a loving atmosphere. With a welcoming heart, southern homes remain open to others. This humble consideration of others erects an atmosphere that abounds in hospitality. My aunt Ellen demonstrates southern
hospitality by hosting various parties, gatherings, and other celebrations. Demonstrating true hospitality, she always opens her home with a joyful heart to friends and family. Aunt Ellen’s servant heart shines through pleasant conversations, delicious meals, and her ways of turning any gathering into a celebration. Her southern hospitality, which many other southerners possess, holds to Biblical doctrine. Peter writes about the command of hospitality in 1 Peter 4:9: “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Hospitality displayed by my aunt leads me to believe that hospitality defines the southern culture. I have confidence that hospitality in the south only occurs because the Gospel and Holy Spirit thrive in this region of the United States. Continuing with hospitality, simple southern ways cause me to recognize the southerners’ participation in community. True community results from the sharing of gifts. In Carthage, North Carolina, an antique collector shares his gifts through opening his farm to the community for A Hundred Years of Progress. Acres of tractors and barns full of collectibles attract the community and reunite family and friends. Grandparents and grandchildren enjoy fried pickles and laughter as they browse the rows of rusty old tractors. Each year at this event, I observe the love shared by that community for one another. My observations cause me to believe in the southern community and sharing of gifts found in the Dixie states. Without southern ladies, individual community between the rich and the poor would cease to exist.
Loving, godly ladies preserve the hospitality of their homes by giving to the poor while reflecting the Bible’s characteristics of an ideal woman. Proverbs depicts one biblical trait that many southern women retain: “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.” Proverbs 31:21. One example of this trait comes from the book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Calpurnia, a southern black woman, invites a poor boy named Walter Cunningham into the Finch home for lunch (Lee 30-33). With generosity, she presented the warm welcome of the south and shared her gifts. I find that most southern women, even those who scarcely attend church, hold Christlike and ladylike qualities similar to Calpurnia. Women like Calpurnia draw me to believe in the hospitality of southern ladies. These ladies who open their home to the needy construct the loving, welcoming atmosphere of the
south. Love impacts the south through welcoming families, contagious hospitality, and the friendly ladies of the south. Welcoming southern families conserve the daily hospitality of the south. More limited occasions like the sharing of an immense blessing also manages hospitality. Southern women, through the acceptance of the poor, preserve the hospitality of the south. Hopefully, the south will spread its love and hospitality, and, more importantly, the Gospel. My experiences of unplanned social gatherings, acceptance and southern women display true hospitality to me and compel me to believe in the Christ-like hospitality of the south.