Words from Rev. Ray

APRIL 2022

 Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I came across the following story recently and thought I would share it with you. Though not everyone’s concept of a heaven, or a hell for that matter, is the same, this story does introduce an interesting aspect of what living in Gods’ Kingdom in the here and now and in the great beyond looks like.

There is an ancient Asian parable about an old man who knew he would die soon.

He wanted to know what heaven and hell were like. He visited a wise man in his village to ask “Can you tell me what heaven and hell are like?” The wise man led him down a strange path, deep into the countryside. Finally they came upon a large house with many rooms and went inside. Inside they found lots of people and many enormous tables with an incredible array of food. Then the old man noticed a strange thing, the people, all thin and hungry were holding chopsticks 12 feet long. They tried to feed themselves, but of course could not get the food to their mouths with such long chopsticks. The old man then said to the wise man “Now I know what hell looks like, will you please show me what heaven looks like?” The wise man led him down the same path a little further until they came upon another large house similar to the first. They went inside and saw many people well fed and happy, they too had chopsticks 12 feet long. This puzzled the old man and he asked, “I see all of these people have 12 feet chopsticks too, yet they are well fed and happy, please explain this to me. The wise man replied, “in Heaven we feed each other” 

Our transition time at Hillcrest is one where we grow more deeply in understanding our individual and collective gifts, and the situation and needs in our community. As we grow in understanding during this time, we grow in learning how we can feed ourselves and feed one another so that we all may rejoice in the spender of God’s creation today, tomorrow, and all our days to come. 

Rev. Raymond Waespi, Bridge Pastor