I’d never heard this story before. The gist of it is that a man asks the difference between heaven and hell. He is shown a door where people are starving, despite a huge pot of delicious-smelling stew being at their disposal, because all they have to feed themselves with are spoons with handles so long, their arms cannot manage to get the stew into their mouths. This, he is told, is hell. He shudders then asks what, then, is heaven.
He is shown another door, much like the first. When opened, there is another pot of delicious-smelling stew with people sitting around it, just like in the first room. In the second room, everyone also has those awkward, long-handled spoons. The difference is, in the second room, the occupants are reaching across the stewpot to feed each other because, in that way, all may eat, even though they cannot feed themselves. This, he is told, is heaven.
I found this story quite remarkable and thought, yes, this is the difference between hell and heaven. Hell would be where you think only of yourself, where you focus only on your own bad situation, your own problems, and where you make yourself miserable and cause yourself heartache and physical pain in doing so. Heaven would be a place where you help others, where there exists cooperation and harmony, a giving spirit, and plenty of what you need. It would be a place where others figure out ways to help each other do what needs to be done to make things better for each other, to lighten the load, to enjoy what has been provided for them. I think the road to arriving at each place would be marked with the same attitudes, though. If you think only of yourself before reaching your final destination, if you are unwilling to help others and assist with their most basic needs, then perhaps that leads your steps to that room where you wouldn’t consider reaching across the stew pot to help others and starve even though there is food there for your nourishment. Likewise, if you seek out others to help in life, if you give of yourself and work for good within your larger community, then you understand what you need to do when faced with those long spoons, too. It would be second nature to say, “Here, let’s feed each other; let’s help each other so we are content and have better lives.”
Today, I’m walking away from this parable with some much-needed hope. I want to stay with the group that feeds each other. But I need to keep that other group in my thoughts, too. That they realize how those spoons can be used in more than one way before it is too late. There’s room at the stewpot for all who open their eyes and hearts and can manage to change their ways before it’s too late.
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