A man of God was having a conversation with His Lord one day and said, “Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and hell are like.”
So the Lord decided to show the man and led him to two doors. Then he opened one of the doors and the man of God looked in.
In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table were sumptuous bowls of all kinds of foods and desserts, which smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water.
The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished and starving.
They were holding spoons with very long handles, that were strapped to their arms and each of them had servings of the delicious food on the end of their spoons.
But because the handle of their silverware was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. They could only toss the food toward their face and hope a few scraps hit their mouths. Therefore they were indeed malnourished.
The man of God shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.
The Lord said, ‘You have now seen Hell my son.’
They went to the next room and opened the door. It was the same as the first one in many respects.
There was a large round table with many delicious and mouth-watering foods which made the man hungry just smelling them.
The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well-nourished and plump, happy, laughing, and talking. The man of God said, ‘I don’t understand Father.’
It is simple,’ said the Lord. It requires but one skill to create the difference between Heaven and hell.
You see, those in this place have learned to feed each other. They understand that only selfless love of others will please Me and make them happy, while those who are selfish and greedy think only of themselves and thus they starve.’