Love in the Time of Mass Migration
May 4, 2026
El Paso, TX
News Article
The unknown traveler shows up storm-tossed, naked, and hungry. He is bathed and clothed, the best wine skins are brought, a meal is laid. Beautifully depicted in Homer, hospitality is a kind of grace—a good bestowed on another outside the realm of exchange and without regard to his merit.
In due time, when every comfort has been provided, he is asked, “Where are you from, and who are your parents?” The question of the guest’s origins—what city, what clan, what far-off barbarian people, perhaps—has until now been suspended. He is received first as one human being by others, into a household.
The traveler’s qualities are ascertained. Is he of noble mien and courteous bearing? A simple but honest rustic? Does the favor of the gods shine upon his shoulders, or does he have the ways of a scoundrel? Does he carry himself like a freeborn citizen or like a slave?
