Day
12 – compassion
(II)
"How can this be?" the man wondered aloud.
"This is terrible!" the man exclaimed
¹I first heard this modern-day parable in 1975 on a tape of a Sunday School class taught by George Schweitzer.
O want of
bread! want of bread! Who can tell what this means unless he has felt it himself? –JOHN WESLEY
One night an
angel appeared to a man and said, "Come with me!"
She escorted
him down a long hallway that ended at a heavy, ornate wooden door. Opening the
door, the man stepped forward into the most glorious banquet room he had ever
seen. The lighting was perfect, the music grand, the decorations breathtaking,
and the food five-star.
"This is
wonderful!" the man exclaimed.
"Look
again!" the angel responded.
The man
looked again and, to his surprise and dismay, saw that every guest sitting at
the tables was malnourished and emaciated, literally skin and bones.
"How can this be?" the man wondered aloud.
"Look
and see!" replied the celestial guide.
The man
looked again and saw that every person had a splint on each arm from shoulder
to wrist, making it impossible to bend at the elbows. So when the forks went
into the food, no one could get the food to the mouth.
"This is terrible!" the man exclaimed
“Come with
me!” the angel said.
Immediately
the guide took him to the end of another hallway. Stepping through the door, he
found himself inside a banquet room eerily similar to the first. As before, he
observed the finest decor and food imaginable. And the guests? Yes, from
shoulder to wrist there were splints on both arms.
But these people
were well fed, smiling, laughing, having the time of their lives.
"How can
this be?" the man asked.
The celestial
being replied, "Look and see!”
The man
looked again, and he saw. The forks went into the food, and they reached out
and fed each other.¹
SELF-REFLECT
1. Think of an instance recently when you acted
like
the people in that first banquet room.
2. Think of an instance recently when you acted
like
the people in that second banquet room.
3. What kinds of “splints” in your life try to rob
you of your happiness? Do these “splints”
excuse you from showing compassion?
4. Make a conscious decision today to practice
compassion tomorrow, no matter your lot in
life.
¹I first heard this modern-day parable in 1975 on a tape of a Sunday School class taught by George Schweitzer.
Daily Quotation
Theodore W. Jennings, Jr., Good News to the Poor (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 1990), 51.
No comments:
Post a Comment