Travel by car, bus or train (one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world -it is said!) Walk the Peace Bridge (if it’s not blowing a gale). Make your way past the Guildhall and up Shipquay Street to the Diamond. You are now entering the historic Cathedral Quarter of the City of Derry. Where are you going? You are heading to Gateway Shop on Pump Street in the heart of the city!

On 26th July millions of people watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. The event marks 100 years since the Games were last held there, in 1924. The 1981 Oscar-winning movie, Chariots of Fire, portrays two men aiming for Olympic glory at the 1924 Games, Harold Abrahams – running for glory and acceptance – and Eric Liddell, running in obedience to God. The film ends with these few brief words, “Eric Liddell, missionary, died in occupied-China at the end of World War II. All of Scotland mourned.” He was a man who ran his race in obedience to Jesus Christ.

Since you’re reading this article, presumably you agree with me that written words matter. In fact, they matter a great deal. As the digital revolution continues to change the way men and women communicate around the world, there have been some who bemoan the lack of interest in written words: many traditional libraries have either disappeared or morphed into internet cafes; older people complain that young people are too “glued to their phones” to do any serious reading; a sharp drop in the use of Christmas cards, postcards and private letters all suggest that the written word doesn’t hold the same importance as once it did.

I’m not naturally a very sociable person. I once famously told all the girls at GAC that I hated meeting new people (not a very encouraging thing to say as a leader). However, it is true that I find any form of socialising tiring and draining particularly if I do not know the people well. Nevertheless, having grown up as a minister’s daughter the idea of having many people in and out of your house is a normal one. Growing up our dinner table frequently hosted our congregation, visiting missionaries and many of our childhood friends. Perhaps because of this I see that hospitality is a way of life despite my introverted tendencies. Butterfield seeks in her book to show that hospitality is indeed inevitably part of the Christian life.