There is a story told of people at a banquet with delicious food. They were not able to eat with anything other than long spoons.
Alas, the spoons were too long for them to feed themselves. And many only focused on this problem and how to work around it to get the food. This was described as hell.
In Heaven, everyone at the table was feasting and enjoying all the food. How? They were each feeding others with their long spoons. And others were feeding them.
My mother taught Sunday School for many years. She eagerly read each lesson and diligently studied The Bible, listening carefully to what The Lord wanted to teach her and what He wanted her to share.
As she aged, she began to have visual problems. She struggled to continue on what she was sure was her mission given her by God.
Finally she sorrowfully announced to the class that she was going to have to give up teaching because she could no longer read.
I knew nothing of this struggle. It was only after my mother’s death that a class member shared what happened next.
She said the class was devastated. They could not bear the thought of continuing without “Miss Pearl” teaching. So they came up with a plan.
They took turns reading the lesson out loud in class and then waited for “what Miss Pearl would say about it.”
They continued to receive the benefit of her teaching. And my mother received the joy of hearing the lesson and continuing to teach.
We are living in a world of long spoons right now. If we only concentrate on how to save ourselves, we will not make it. We cannot survive without each other.
Whatever your own condition, look at what you can give to others. It will come back to you and likely in ways you never imagined.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Matthew 5:7
