Some of the first hospitals were created by the early Christian community as places of hospital-ity for the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind (Luke 14:1-14). There was usually no charge for the hospitality although those who could, often helped with some of the work. These ancient hospitals also had another purpose, they also housed traveling strangers. Hospitality as a business was almost completely unknown. Instead, hospitality was seen as an ethical and moral requirement of local communities in several ancient cultures. Christian communities taught people to have a room for strangers in their homes and some even built special facilities specifically for the hospitality of not only the sick, but also traveling strangers. How far we have fallen to where hospitals and hospitality have become big business, charging large sums and making extravagant incomes for some.
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