Two Seas

The following is taken from a homily I recently heard...

There are two seas in Israel. One is called the Sea of Galilee and the other is the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee is beaming with life. The water is beautiful and the home of many fish and different types of plant life. The Dead Sea on the other hand is exactly what its name says, dead. Nothing lives or grows in the Dead Sea. The water is murky and disgusting. What is it about these two sea that makes them so different? The Sea of Galilee receives water but is also gives water out. The Sea of Galilee flows into several other bodies of water giving its life to them. The Dead Sea receives but it never gives. Water comes in but it does not go anywhere else. Because of this the water is stagnate and as the water evaporates it leaves behind tons of salt that makes it impossible for things to live and grow.

Every one of us can be one of these two "seas". If we want to be full of life and beauty we have to give of ourselves like the Sea of Galilee. We must take what we receive and give it to others. If we on the other hand just take take take and never give we will end up ugly and dead with no chance of life and beauty just like the Dead Sea. These two "seas" are a glimpse of heaven and hell on earth. We experience a little bit of heaven when we give of ourselves because in heaven no one is selfish. Hell is filled with selfish people. In hell their is a huge banquet table with all the tastiest and finest foods. Everything you ever dreamed of eating is out on the table and everyone in hell is sitting around ready to eat. The only problem is that their forks are four feet long. Can you imagine trying to eat with a four foot long fork? No one could get the food into their mouth. It was torture. In heaven there is the exact same scene. The banquet table with all the food is there including the four foot forks. The difference though is that in heaven they are feeding each other. They are thinking of each other and giving to each other and in that everyone is fed. My sisters in Christ let us work every day to give of ourselves and never count the cost because our reward awaits us at the banquet feast of heaven.