The Season of Hospitality

The beginning of November is a time of so many celebrations! We have just celebrated American Halloween, and today we acknowledge the beginning of American Indian Heritage month. This is also the time when our LatinX brothers and sisters are celebrating Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead.  All of these wonderful observances form a season of hospitality.  Hospitality is, of course, the welcoming of others into our hearts and homes.  It involves extending true care to friends, family, and strangers alike.

In Native American storytelling, hospitality is a recurring theme. One story from the Sauk tribe tells about how corn came into existence from an act of hospitality offered to a strange woman who descended from the sky. After two Sauk ancestors generously offered her some of their food, she told them to return to that place in a year’s time. Although their kinspeople thought they were foolish, the two ancestors returned to the sacred spot a year later and found corn growing in the place where the woman had been resting her hand.

Although we might not realize it, the celebration of Halloween also involves hospitality as we give treats to others’ children, regardless of whether we think they “deserve” it. Halloween is a remarkable moment in our culture when traditional lines that divide our communities – race, ethnicity, and social class – can be temporarily suspended for a night.  Sociological research indicates that communities that have a robust celebration of Halloween tend to be healthier. 

The Day of the Dead, which is celebrated today and tomorrow by many LatinX peoples and countries, provides hospitality to dead loved ones and ancestors. Celebrants create an ofrenda or home altar and place items on it for the dead. The ofrenda is an acknowledgment of the ongoing presence of the dead with the living, and honors their memory.  Celebrations then move from the home to the cemetery where the dead offer hospitality to the living. In Oaxaca, Mexico, Day of the Dead celebrations are viewed as absolutely necessary to the wellbeing of the whole community.

What all of these stories and celebrations have in common is that the experience of hospitality blesses both the giver and the receiver.  True hospitality changes all of us. As we enjoy this season of hospitality, each of us has the opportunity to reflect on a time when we felt welcomed and treated with loving care and attentiveness. How can we extend that experience of welcome to others?