(The Nationalist, 23 March 2001)
Once upon a time, so the story goes, a man was allowed to visit heaven and hell while he was still alive. First he went to hell. There he saw huge tables laden with rich food of every kind. There was no shortage of anything. But the people around the tables were starving. Some were angry, some frustrated, and some quarrelled with the others. Each was absorbed in his or her own suffering. The visitor saw the reason for this distressing situation: the spoons and forks of the guests were longer than their arms, and so they were unable to bring the food to their mouths.
Having taken in this scene the visitor went to heaven. Here the picture was in many respects the same, and yet totally different. There were many guests, seated for a banquet. He saw huge tables laden with rich food of every kind. There was no shortage of anything. The guests had spoons and forks longer than their arms. But the atmosphere was bright and full of the sunshine of human happiness. No one wanted for anything. The visitor saw immediately what it was that made the difference. The guests were not trying to feed themselves. They were feeding each other. That was the reason for the long cutlery.