From disconnection to connection: the healing potential of household hospitality to the stranger

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article finds its origin in a hermeneutic phenomenological research study which examined the practice of hospitality to strangers by lay persons within private Canadian Christian homes. Special attention is given to key findings from the study which reveal the disconnection experienced by strangers, and the potential within hospitable encounters to contribute to healing human disconnection. The healing power of hospitality is explored through the voices of those who practice hospitality to strangers within their homes, the contributions of biblical texts regarding hospitality, and key tenets of Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) which emphasize the healing potential of relational connection. Hospitality was found to have the potential to heal disconnection through the provision of welcome, physical, emotional, and spiritual care, relational connection, communal living, and the appropriate use of power. Through proximity and mutual connection, both host and guest experience growth-fostering relationships that move them from disconnection to connection.