A Hell of a Difference
Who in your home, work, and neighbourhood could benefit from a genuinely loving embrace, a gracious invitation? (This is one of my favourite stories.)
Once upon a time, there lived a woman who wished she could understand the difference between Heaven and Hell. She petitioned God for such an experience, and one day, God came to her in a dream.
God said to the woman, “I have heard your prayer and am willing to grant your request. I will show you Hell first.”
At once, they entered a grand dining hall. The tables filled with a vast assortment of the finest foods, displayed with all the grandeur of the finest kingdoms. Her attention then turned to those sitting around the tables. They were weeping, profoundly sad, malnourished and physically pathetic. With such a magnificent feast before them, it was very odd that everyone was sickly thin, and no one ate.
It was then she noticed each of them had a large 3-foot-long spoon. The people could easily reach the food, but because of the length of the spoon, it was impossible for them to get the big spoon to their mouths.
“Oh, Father, how sad,” the woman sighed. "To be surrounded by so much, such abundance, and yet to starve. Indeed, this must be Hell.”
“We shall now see Heaven,” said God.
They entered another majestic dining hall. These tables, too, filled with a vast assortment of the finest foods, elegantly displayed. Her attention then turned to those sitting around the table. These people were laughing and singing. They were full of joy, pleasantly plump and healthy in stature. It was then she noticed the same peculiar 3-foot-long spoons. The very same she had seen while in Hell, and yet these people were happy, rejoicing and evidently well-fed and healthy.
She turned to God and said, “I am confused. These people here in Heaven have the same peculiar spoons as those who reside in Hell but are well-fed and happy. What’s the difference?”
God smiled and said, “These people have learned that a 3-foot spoon is best used to feed someone else.”
She then woke up.
(Story adapted from Doorway to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World, by Elisa Pearmain. Wipf & Stock Pub. 2007)
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Is it possible for someone(s) to have so much and still be so poor?
Jesus has much to say about a life of becoming Love. Jesus challenged the story of domination and exploitation of Empire and Big Religion - subverting them with extravagant, radically inclusive, self-giving love.
Jesus says such scandalous things as to be first; we must choose to be last and to love our neighbour as ourselves. He speaks of laying down our lives for others’ well-being, including our enemies, those who look differently than us, and those who believe differently than us—radical inclusiveness of the Kingdom of Love instead of an empire of exclusion and smallness. In Jesus, God demonstrates a radical embrace and invites, inspires and empowers us to do the same.
[B, bu, but Michael, what about sin? Dear one, Jesus models time and again that the cure for sin is radically embracing Love - not shame, rejection, scapegoating, or the bludgeon of holiness codes.]
What might loving as Jesus look like in your life? Who in your home, work, and neighbourhood could benefit from a genuinely loving embrace, a gracious welcome? Who are those hard-to-love, seemingly undeserving, disqualified people in your life that you could serve with a 3-foot-long heaping spoonful of self-giving, co-suffering,unControlling Love?
(Hint: sometimes we need only look in the mirror. When we can personally experience this Love, it becomes much easier to extend it to others. Those who have been forgiven much will quite naturally Love much.)