Wanna' Spoon?

One thing I know:

The only ones among you

who will be really happy

are those who will have sought

and found how to serve.

Albert Schweitzer

There is a story about a guide taking a man on tour to see the difference between hell and heaven.  The door to hell is opened and the tourist is shocked to see tables filled with food as though it were a banquet.  He looks around the room and notices that all of the people in hell look emaciated in spite of all the food.  They are standing around moaning and groaning from starvation.  As he looks closer, he sees that the spoons that were being held were longer than the arms of the people,  so the food could not get into their mouths.  "This is hell," the guide explained.

The next door they come to leads to heaven.  Upon opening it, the man takes in the same view.  Tables are overflowing with food, but instead of moaning and groaning, the people in heaven were laughing and enjoying each other.  They, too, have the same long spoons, and are incapable of feeding themselves;  however, they have learned to feed each other.

In his book, A DEEP BREATH OF LIFE, author Alan Cohen writes,  "When we take care of another, we fulfill our highest function as divine beings.  We can feed each other on many levels:  physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  There is no greater joy and service than to fill one another with whatever we have to share."

Using the gifts and talents that you have been blessed with consider those who surround you.  Then decide how you can best serve them in your own unique and creative way.  There is much we can give in very simple ways, such as a smile or a hug.

We all have the same spoons to feed and nurture.  How will you use yours?  If you are living in a man made hell, perhaps you have been serving only your self and simply need to feed another.