come meal time,
we all assumed a pretty
aggressive, "me-first"
attitude.
When food came to our table,
it was a no-holds-barred
free-for-all to see
who could grab the most
chicken strips, or pizza,
or pie, or whatever.
If you were not aggressive,
or fast enough,
you might get stuck
with a plate of beans.
Observing this,
our counsellor reminded us
of Jesus' command:
"Do unto others
as you would have them
do unto you."
It was, after all, church camp.
Out counsellor, Jeremy,
suggested that,
before serving ourselves,
we serve the guy next to us.
He called this "others."
Grudgingly, we complied.
But when Jeremy wasn't looking,
we cleverly inverted
the Golden Rule.
We would grab a bowl
of pasta salad, for example,
and, heaping giant spoonfuls
onto our own plates
we would say, mockingly,
"others."
What we meant was
that the guy who got stuck
with the plate of beans
should be grateful
that his food went to
"others"
as we stuffed our faces.
