Heaven and Hell: A Parable

A rabbi was talking with God about Heaven and Hell.

"Come," said God. "Walk with me, and I will show you Hell."

And together they walked into a room of cold, rough stone. In the center of the room, atop a low fire, sat a huge pot of quietly simmering stew. The stew smelled delicious, and made the rabbi's mouth water. A group of people sat in a circle around the pot, and each of them held a curiously long-handled spoon. The spoons were long enough to reach the pot; but the handles were so ungainly that every time someone dipped the bowl of their spoon into the pot and tried to maneuver the bowl to their mouth, the stew would spill. The rabbi could hear the grumblings of their bellies. They were cold, hungry, and miserable.

"And now," God said, "I will show you Heaven."

Together they walked into another room, almost identical to the first. A second pot of stew simmered in the center; another ring of people sat around it; each person was outfitted with one of the frustratingly long spoons. But this time, the people sat with the spoons across their laps or laid on the stone beside them. They talked, quietly and cheerfully with one another. They were warm, well-fed, and happy.

"Lord, I don't understand," said the rabbi. "How was the first room Hell; and this, Heaven?"

God smiled. "It's simple," he said. "You see, they have learned to feed each other."
(Temple Sinai Congregation of Toronto)
Charles K. 8/21/06 <source>

I had read this in Craig and Mark Keilbugers Me to We as a Japanese parable, featuring super long chopsticks (similar to this or this version). I thought it was a nice story, especially after this.

(02.02.08) Recommends:

Pre-Invasion Jitters.

Back in October, we blogged a few times about David Dondero (here and here and here). Since that time we've found ourselves caught up in primary/caucus hysteria. (We've even blogged about a change we'd like to see in that process.) And all this political talk hearkens us back to those Dondero days. So last night, while we were catching up on the state of our political state we put on a live Dondero album -- released in January 2004 -- in the background. And up came Pre-Invasion Jitters. And man, oh man. There must be at least a half dozen ohnohedidn't! moments in these lyrics.

While we've been paying closer attention to politics these last few weeks than we have in a while, we're still pretty certain neither Democratic candidate would have the (gender-neutral) balls to bring a guy like Dondero up on the stage. So we feel it's our duty to continue to shine our light upon him. People complain that the young and the hip don't care about politics. Dondero cares. Anybody care to listen?

David Dondero -- Pre-Invasion Jitters -- mp3.

(02.01.08) Recommends:

Buying Low: Minor Leaguer Takes Stock of Himself.

A while back we linked to a Michael Lewis article on creating a stock exchange on which professional athletes are bought and sold. Today the New York times brings the story of Randy Newsom, a minor leaguer, who set up a website where people could purchase shares of his future major league income. The article says that through Thursday, Newsom had sold about 1,800 shares of himself at $20 apiece, bringing in $36,000. The article goes on to say a player like Newsome typically makes $8,000 for a five-month season. Newsom has temporarily shut down the market, as the SEC says the shares are securities, and their unregistered offering violates federal securities law, and MLB is concerned it violates league policies. It may also violate MLBPA (the player's union) policies. However, Newsome says "this idea is not going away." So the story, once hypothetical, seems to be developing in reality now. It'll be an interesting story to follow.