Be a Spoon

Christians are like silverware. Some are knives, cutting others down to size; some are forks, grabbing and stabbing. Christ calls us to be spoons, because spoons have only one purpose: They are designed to serve.

While setting the table for dinner one evening, a little girl entertained herself by bringing the utensils to life. Her mother listened as knives, forks and spoons carried on conversation and wrestled their way onto the table.

Suddenly the girl looked over at her mother and declared, "If I had to choose -- I'd be a spoon!"

"A spoon," her mother replied, intrigued. "Why would you want to be a spoon? What would be wrong with being a knife or a fork?"

"Well," the girl explained, "forks are too grabby -- always stabbing stuff and taking it like it's theirs. Like in school -- I hate it when somebody takes a piece of my dessert with their fork and eats it."

"Okay," her mother agreed, "what about being a knife?"

"No, knives are scary -- like, they cut things, and you can't really eat with them, just slice stuff up," she responded.

"But," the little girl continued, holding a shiny spoon in front of her face, "spoons can scoop up lots of stuff and even pass it around. They're just...