The Power of Unity During the Holidays
Growing up, the holidays were never about what we had, but about who we welcomed to the table. Those gatherings taught me that unity is something that requires action. After all, belonging is one of the greatest gifts we can give one another, simply by making room at our tables for those who could use a moment of connection.
This year, I encourage you to use this time to practice what I call radical hospitality: the choice to welcome, to include, and to make room even when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable.
Traditions That Bring Us Closer
There are holiday traditions that stay with you forever, especially the ones that create a sense of togetherness. In my family, Christmas morning always began the same way. We gathered before the festivities started and prayed for our neighbors, our community, and anyone facing hardship during that season. It was a practice that reminded us that we were connected to a larger family beyond our own.
We also shared meals, told stories, and visited relatives and friends who might have spent the day alone. Sometimes we dropped off cookies to teachers, called people we had not spoken to in a while, or invited someone new in town to join our dinner table. These small gestures helped us pay attention to the people around us and showed us that connection is something we choose, not something that just happens.
These early experiences shaped how I think about leadership today. Unity takes root in the ordinary moments, in the places where we gather, and in the simple ways we show up for one another.
Hospitality as a Strategy for Healing
Today, communities across the country are wrestling with social division. Leaders in every sector, from business and government to faith and community, have an opportunity to respond in a way that is both strategic and deeply human. Hospitality is not just a holiday tradition; it is a powerful tool for social healing.
Leaders who practice hospitality create places where people feel valued. When someone is invited in, not just to sit but to truly collaborate, they begin to see themselves as part of the solution. That sense of belonging strengthens the very fabric that connects us together, and turns groups of individuals into communities that invest in one another.
Radical hospitality asks us to go a step further. It pushes us to include those who are often overlooked: the coworker who feels isolated, the neighbor who just moved in, the young person far from home, the elder who has lost loved ones, or the families navigating financial or emotional hardship. Many people feel invisible during the holidays. Maybe they are grieving. Maybe they don’t have strong family connections. Maybe they feel disconnected from their community. Maybe they simply don’t feel like they belong anywhere.
Unity can only happen when we pay attention to those who feel left out and make the intentional choice to invite them in. It’s easy to show up for our family and friends, but it’s another thing to show up for someone who does not have a built-in support system to lean on.
This is the heart behind our Tables Across America initiative. Tables Across America brings intimate, high-impact gatherings to cities nationwide. Over shared meals, local business, nonprofit, and community leaders sit down together and talk about the needs in their communities and how they can each do their part to address them. It is designed to create a national family of people committed to building The Same House. These tables create space for people who might otherwise never have crossed paths to imagine solutions together. That is radical hospitality. It is the intentional act of widening the circle so more people feel they have a seat and a stake in the game.
A Call to Radical Hospitality
As we step into this holiday season, I want to offer you a simple challenge: practice radical hospitality.
Open your home, your table, or simply your time to someone who may feel left out this year. Look around your community with a fresh perspective and ask yourself:
Who needs a place to belong? And how can I help create it?
During this season, may we be the ones who make room. And in doing so, may we build the kind of community where everyone feels like they have a place to call home.