Welcoming the World

For many visitors the World Cup has become much more than a celebration of sport. It has become an opportunity to experience the goodness of the United States through the kindness of its people. 

Sport fans from around the globe came dressed in the colors of their home teams, their hearts set on ninety minutes of competition, the roar of a packed stadium, and the hope of carrying home a hard-earned victory.

Many will leave with more than they expected. World Cup visitors have gone viral for their newfound love of American staples, including ranch dressing, Popeye’s chicken, and tater tots. Many have stood in wonder before the raw beauty that this country has to offer - mountains and coastlines, vibrant cities and quiet fields - creation bearing the fingerprints of its Creator.

But more importantly, in quiet neighborhoods, busy restaurants, hotel lobbies, and city streets, strangers became friends. Conversations lingered. Laughter was shared. A birthday was celebrated with people met only hours before.

For a little while, the barriers that so often divide us quietly faded away.

Our visitors will return home with more than souvenirs. They will carry with them the reminder that kindness still exists, that community can be found in the most unexpected places, and that the world is often smaller, warmer, and more beautiful than we sometimes imagine.

How hungry we have become for stories like these. The news so often speaks of anger, division, and fear, until we begin to wonder if goodness has somehow slipped through our fingers.

Yet perhaps what so many discovered during the World Cup was not something new, but something we too easily forget. Goodness was never gone. It was there all along, quietly revealed in ordinary people doing ordinary things with extraordinary love.

Hospitality is more than courtesy. It is love made visible.