The following story was found in our church bulletin this past weekend. I feel that it applies to this blog and is in a nutshell a large reason for why I have made this decision in my life.
A man dreamed that he was having a conversation with God. He felt comfortable enough to ask God a question, "Lord, I'm curious. I wonder if it would be possible for you to show me what heaven and hell are like." The Lord led the man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the man looked inside. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a big pot of stew, which smelled so delicious it made the man's mouth water. But the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly-looking. They seemed to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped tightly to their arms and each one was dipping desperately into the pot of stew to take a spoonful, but the stew was spilling back into the pot because they couldn not bend their elbows. No matter how they tried they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The man shuddered at the sight of all of their misery and suffering. The Lord turned to him and said, "You have seen hell." They then went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was another large round table with the big savory pot of stew in the middle, which made the man's mouth water all over again. The people had exactly the same style of long-hanlded spoons strapped on their arms, but these people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking happily together. The man was quite puzzled and said, "I don't understand what's going on. This is heaven?" "Yes indeed," said God with a smile. "In this place the people have learned to serve one another."
