The Southern Baptist Academy Blog

By: Mimi Rothschild

After reading the academy blog posted last Friday, my son asked me if I ever heard the six foot spoons story of heaven. I hadn’t. So he informed me of it…

A person dies. His name is Mike. Mike is greeted by an angel that tells him that God has decided that the decision of afterlife is Mike’s and will be based on his decisions throughout his life on earth.

Two doors were presented to Mike. The angel told him that he needed to pick one of the two doors and look inside. He could only pick one, but if he didn’t like that door than he had to take whatever was behind the second door. He couldn’t open both and then decide.

Mike opened the first door and saw a table built for a king’s feast. It seated more people than Mike could count in a glance, and upon further investigation he saw the spirit of every person he has ever known and loved that had passed, and spots for all of those yet to be with him. On the table there was enough food for everyone to eat several meals. The finest cuisine, chalices filled with wine and everyone Mike wanted to be with all in the same place; this had to be heaven, he thought.

Before Mike walked inside and deemed this his forever-afterlife, he looked closer into the eyes of his loved ones. Something was hollow. His eyes followed theirs and he saw what they saw – each person was holding a six foot spoon.

Once noticing this, Mike saw the food going everywhere but where his loved-ones wanted. Each person tried feverously to flick food into their own mouth, but instead of enjoying even a morsel, each person was starving to get a single bite.

“No. Never. Give me the fire-pits and horn spikes, I’ll take whatever is behind the second door no matter how painful the punishment,” Mike said as he slammed the door shut. He couldn’t witness his loved-ones being punished, regardless of his desire to be with them all.

The angel looked on and presented the second door to Mike and waited as he reached for the handle. He grabbed the knob, closed his eyes and opened the door.

Much to Mike’s surprise, the room was identical to the first door he had opened. It held the same luxurious table holding the same feast, same spirits around the table sitting in front of the same chalices; but worst of all, each spirit was still holding the same six foot spoon.

Mike looked on with an open mind to try to find something different, a deeper solution, just as he did his entire life on earth. And this time upon further examination, he noticed something was missing from the first door he had opened. The hollowness was gone. These loved-ones weren’t hungry. There was no food flying across the room or anything missing its target by selfishly being flung from a spoon.

Instead, Mike’s friends and family weren’t trying to feed themselves. Instead, they were feeding each other. Each spoon was being used to help the person across from them without the fear of going hungry themselves. Each person thought of his or her neighbor first.

And, to Mike, this was his choice. He lived his life this way and now would spend his eternity sharing with his loved-ones the glorious gifts that the Lord has provided.

This was heaven.