The Proper Plate
Kindness is the highest form of intelligence.
— Wayne Teasdale
When Rev. Roger Teel was a shy high school senior,
he worked up the nerve to ask a young lady to accompany him to the senior prom,
and to his happy surprise, she accepted. Finally the big night came, and Roger
nervously drove his date to the fine restaurant, both of them speaking hardly a
word. Apparently the girl was as anxious as he was.
At dinner the young lady ordered scallops, and Roger
ordered a steak. When the entrées arrived, Roger, still feeling uptight, reached
to cut his steak and his knife slipped. The steak flew off the plate, over his
date’s shoulder, and onto the floor. Young Roger felt completely mortified—here
he was on his first big date, and he was blowing it!
Before Roger could think of what to say, the maître
d’, who had observed the entire episode, dashed to the table. “I am so sorry,
sir,” he spouted, holding the errant beef in a napkin. “The chef placed your
entrée on the wrong kind of plate. It would have slipped away from anyone. I’ll
get a replacement for you immediately.” A few minutes later a waiter returned
with a new steak—on a different-colored plate—and made a big deal about the
order now being on the appropriate “steak plate.”
There was, of course, no problem with the original
plate; it was a perfect steak plate. The maître d’, you see, was a perfect
angel. He saved Roger’s date and his sense of dignity. As the young man left the
restaurant, the maître d’ flashed him a wink and a smile.
Every situation offers the opportunity for judgment
or compassion, alienation or connection. The little mind sees problems with
everyone and everything, while the divine mind sees calls for help and openings
to serve. Today is filled with opportunities to make the world a little more
like heaven..
What situation that you have judged can you
reframe as an opportunity to help?
I regard myself and others through the eyes of
compassion.
I take every opportunity to make
the world more like heaven.