pondering…

A friend shared this metaphor with me… it is stirring.

Once upon a time there was a huge boat parked in a rather large port. News spread all over the town that the boat was leaving for heaven. Masses of people showed up and started a huge crowd, a huge line. People from all over the place came to get in line to get on this massive boat. There happen to be a man that worked in the port who tied the smaller boats up and did some odd jobs along the dock. Since he worked in the port, he was near the front of the line.

People started to get edgy as they were walking on the boat going to heaven. Some people yelled at each other, threw elbows as they worked their way to the front, as there was limited space on the boat going to heaven. The man who worked in the port saw what was going on with the people in the port, saw the people getting angry with each other and throwing elbows to get to the front, so he started letting people go in front of him. He had a gracious spirit about it and wanted to bring peace into the chaotic situation. He let most everyone go in front of him until everyone was on the boat going to heaven and there was no more room on the boat. As the boat was untied and pushed off to set sail, the people on the boat mocked him a bit that he was stupid enough to let all the others on the boat, but he himself missed it.

As the boat was leaving the port, God walked up behind him, put his arm on his shoulder and said with a smile, “Welcome to Heaven.”

love this picture…