Reflections of a Server
Why am I here?
Let me recount a parable that I read somewhere (I can’t remember where), but not in the Bible.
One night a man dreamt an angel visited him and invited him to see what Hell is like. So, the man accompanied the angel to Hell. There he saw a large banquet room filled with tables lined end-to-end. The tables were stacked with delicious foods and drinks of all kinds. Each row of tables was lined on both sides with chairs, all filled with people. But the people were starving, swollen bellies, sunken eyes, thin limbs.
“Why,” the man asked the angel, “Why are the people starving when the tables in front of them are full of food and drink?”
“If you will notice,” answered the angel, “they all wear splints on their arms which prevent their bending their elbows. While the people can reach the food, they cannot put it on their plates nor bring it to their mouths.” This is truly hellish, thought the man, to be starving in front of a feast and unable to consume any of it.
“Come,” said the angel, “and I will show you what Heaven is like.”
So, the man accompanied the angel to Heaven. There he saw a large banquet room filled with tables lined end-to-end. The tables were stacked with delicious foods and drinks of all kinds. Each row of tables was lined on both sides with chairs, all filled with people, just as in Hell. And as in Hell, the people wore splints on their arms which prevented their bending their elbows. But unlike Hell, the people here were not starving. They were healthy and happy, enjoying the feast.
“I don’t understand,” the man said to the angel. “How is it that the people in Hell starve because they wear splints on their arms, while the people in Heaven wear the same splints but do not starve?”
“Look closely,” instructed the angel. “You will see that the people in Heaven, while unable to feed themselves because of the splints, have learned to feed the persons sitting opposite them on the other side of the table.”
While I don’t remember where I read this parable, it has stayed with me. It reminds me of several things.
It reminds me that “How to Live Together” is the curriculum in the school of life in which we are all enrolled.
We are made for community. In the parable above, there are no loners, no tables for one or even two.
A diner in Heaven must first ask the person across the table what it is the other person wants. They might even both ask the same question of each other at the same time. As they give to each other, they receive from each other. Giving and receiving is reciprocal. And so, living is reciprocal. We give to others (and to all members of Creation), and they give to us. Learning how to give and receive is why we are here.
Finally, examine a bird and you will conclude it was made for flying. Examine a fish and you will conclude it was made for swimming. Examine a human and you might notice that it was made for serving. We need others and they need us. Providing for each other is not only the way we survive. It is the way we thrive.