Sacred Threads: Exploring Faith and Human

Sacred Hospitality – Welcoming the Stranger


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This episode explores hospitality as a sacred act woven through every major faith and culture. In Christianity, welcoming the stranger is seen as welcoming Christ himself. Islam regards honoring guests as a divine command, while Judaism practices hachnasat orchim, inviting all who are hungry to share in the Passover meal. Hinduism teaches Atithi Devo Bhava—“The guest is God”—and Buddhism expresses hospitality through dana, the virtue of selfless giving. Sikhism’s langar transforms service into equality, and Indigenous traditions treat sharing food and shelter as spiritual reciprocity with earth and community. Through touching stories—from monks in the Himalayas sharing their last bowl of rice to a Moroccan woman baking for strangers—the episode reveals hospitality as a universal expression of compassion. To welcome another, it concludes, is to welcome the divine itself.

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Sacred Threads: Exploring Faith and HumanBy Nina Payne