I remember whilst travelling in Israel/Palestine many years back arriving in a town at night.

We were travelling by car looking for somewhere to stay. We asked a local for directions and ended up being invited to his home.

We were welcomed and given food and somewhere to sleep. We also met his family the next morning over breakfast.

This incident had a profound effect on me, as I was on the receiving end of what has been called the “kindness of strangers”.

Maybe you can think of incidents where you have been on the receiving end of hospitality.

In “Cool Britannia” we can be slow in opening our doors. In many ways, Britain is deliberately creating a hostile environment towards refugees and migrants.

Xenophobia is on the rise (literally the fear of the stranger/foreigner). The Bible encourages us to “practise hospitality” thereby “entertaining angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). An intriguing phrase…

The answer to xenophobia is to respond in the opposite spirit – philoxenia, which is the biblical (Greek) term for hospitality. It literally means love of strangers.

Go on, try it. Practise generosity with a stranger. And maybe, just maybe, you will encounter an “angel” …