The Way You Use Your Spoon

Welcome to the audio version of Lisa Liguori's Advice Column Newsletter. If you're like us, it's sometimes easier to listen to something than to read it.

In this recording Lisa reads the following newsletter.

There is a group of well-dressed people at a grand banquet hall. The decor is gorgeous and there are bountiful plates of delicious food in front them. The scent of savory dishes floats through the air and there are decorative plates with sweet treats piled high.

But upon inspection there is a problem. The guests seated at the table all have their wrists bound to the table with heavy steel cuffs. They have enormous long spoons at their fingertips, but with their arms pinned down they cannot pivot the long instruments at an angle to pick up food from their plates. They cannot eat. They are frustrated and hungry, in a form of hell.

There is another table in what might be conceived of as heaven. The same type of well-coiffed revelers sit at a table loaded with culinary delights. The strange thing is that these men and women also have their hands shackled; but somehow they are eating and enjoying themselves. There are warm sounds of conversation and laughter rising up.

How strange, you think, wondering how this could be. 

You draw further into the scene to investigate and you see that in this second group each person is using his or her long spoon to feed the person across the table from them. By feeding one another they can make the long spoons work. 

I had forgotten about this story, attributed to Rabbi Haim, until I was setting the table for Thanksgiving this year. Today I’m pondering it. 

It’s such a neat dynamic that when we give, we cannot help but receive. I hope in this season of gifting, the emotional and physical gifts you send out return to you many fold and fill you with joy.

With love,

Lisa

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello friend, picture a group of really well-dressed people at a grand banquet hall. The decor is gorgeous and there are just bountiful plates of delicious food just heaped up in front of them. There's the scent of savory dishes floating through the air and there are these decorative plates with sweet treats piled high. But when you look closer there's a problem. The guests seated at the table all have their wrists bound to the table with heavy steel cuffs, so their wrists are pinned down. They have these enormous long spoons at their fingertips, but with their arms pinned down and the really long silverware, they can't pivot it to get the silverware onto their plate, so they can get the food into their mouth. So they can't eat. They're frustrated and hungry and they're in a form of hell.

Speaker 1: 1:04

Now picture another table. In what might be conceived of as heaven, there's the same type of well-quaifed revelers sitting at the table with culinary delights. But the strange thing is that here in heaven these men and women also have their hands shackled, but somehow they're eating and enjoying themselves. There are just warm sounds of conversations and laughter is rising up through the air. How strange, you think, wondering how that could happen. So you draw further into the scene to investigate. And you see that in this second group, each person is using his or her long spoon to feed the person across the table from them. So by feeding one another they can make the long spoons work. They can reach the plate across from them and feed that person.

Speaker 1: 2:01

I'd forgotten about the story that I think was attributed to Rabbi Haim H-A-I-M until I was sitting at the table for Thanksgiving this year. So today I've been thinking about it. There's a neat dynamic that often when we give, we cannot help but receive right. So I hope that in this time of gifting, this time of year, the emotional and physical gifts that you send out fill you with so much joy. Enjoy this season with all my love and I'll talk to you soon.