Today is World Hello Day.

How do you greet someone you meet on the street? Maybe you shake hands, if it’s an adult. If it’s one of your friends, maybe you just nod your head and say, “Hey.” Or if it’s the neighbor down the street, you wave and say, “Hi.”

We probably wouldn’t greet another person by rubbing noses with them, as they do among the Maori people in New Zealand. And we most likely wouldn’t greet another person by giving them a kiss on each check, as some European cultures do.

The way we greet others really depends on our cultural habits and behaviors. A common hand gesture that we often use—the “thumbs up”—is interpreted in a completely different way in another part of the world. It helps to know something about different cultures so that we don’t make people feel uncomfortable or offended.

For example, we are taught that when you talk to someone, you should look that person in the eye. In many Asian cultures, looking a person in the eye is considered disrespectful. Many consider a light touch on the arm as acceptable when talking with another person. In some Middle Eastern cultures, touching another person is highly offensive.

There is one surefire way to greet another person that is always appropriate—as Paul puts it, to “Greet each other in Christian love.” When we reach out to others as Jesus did, we will be concerned about that person and what makes him or her comfortable. We will make every effort to make the person feel welcomed and loved—no matter whether that person lives next door, around the block, or across the globe.

That kind of hello goes beyond all cultural and ethnic barriers.

Greet each other in Christian love. Peace be to all of you who are in Christ (1 Peter 5:14).

To Do

Talk to some of your friends who have different cultural backgrounds from you. Find out how they greet one another in their culture.

Also on this day

1877—Thomas A. Edison announced the invention of his phonograph.

1922—Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve as a member of the U.S. Senate.

1942—The Alaska highway across Canada was formally opened.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.