When the visitors leave, the work of love remains

To the editor: The Berkshires know how to welcome a visitor. People come for beauty, music, art, trails, and the particular peace that a change of scenery can offer. But the deeper character of a place is revealed after the crowds thin and the ordinary work of living continues. There are residents whose lives do not follow a visitor’s calendar. A person must still get to the grocery store when the weather turns. A caregiver must still make another appointment. A neighbor who lives alone must face another long evening when the streets grow quiet. These are not problems unique to one region. But they are especially easy to overlook in a place celebrated for what others come to enjoy. Jesus taught that caring for people in need was not a side project of faith. It was one of the ways faith could be recognized. In Matthew 25, the act of visiting, feeding, or welcoming someone carried extraordinary significance precisely because it was ordinary.

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