A man spoke with the Lord about heaven and hell. The Lord said to the man, "Come, I will show you hell." They entered a room where a group of hungry people sat around a huge pot of cooking stew. Everyone in the room was famished, desperate, starving. Each person held a spoon that reached the pot but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their own arms that it could not be used to get the stew into their own mouths. The suffering was terrible.

"Come now, I will show you heaven" the Lord said. They entered a room identical to the first, the big pot of stew, the group of people and the same long-handled spoons. But here everyone was happy and well nourished.

"I don't understand" said the man. "Why is everyone happy here and miserable in the other room? Everything is the same."

The Lord smiled. "Ah, it is simple," he said, "Here, they have learned to feed each other."