Mrs. Jones thought she’d lived a perfect life because “I’ve never bothered anybody.” So when she went to hell, she complained bitterly. St. Peter said, “The only time that selfish woman ever helped anyone was the day she gave a poor beggar an onion.” So they agreed to lower the onion down to hell, and if the lady grabbed on, she could be pulled up to heaven.
She was overjoyed! But as she grabbed the onion, some of her companions grabbed on, to get out, too. She began kicking them off, screaming, “Let go, let go—that’s MY onion!” Instantly the line snapped, and she fell back into Satan’s waiting arms. He only smiled: “Too bad! The rope was strong enough to save all of you… but not you by yourself.” (J. Feehan)
True, she didn’t owe anything to anyone—but that’s what put her in hell! St. Paul says, “Owe nothing to anyone, EXCEPT to love one another”; that is how to fulfill the law. Have you ever thought of the Great Commandment that way? That we actually owe it to each other to “love one another”? We don’t think that way about strangers, do we? But every one of us is connected by our spiritual “gene pool” to every other creature… because we have been loved into existence from the heart of God.
Like the “paying it forward,” actions that occur, one small kindness by us—an unexpected smile, kind word, polite action—can start a subtle chain reaction that increases the atmosphere of care and respect within the whole Body of Christ. Even if we don’t “feel loving” toward strangers, we can form the habit of “doing love” in many small ways. Each of us has to look at every situation in our lives, to see if we are truly whole-heartedly loving one another. Or are we kicking people off, trying to hang on to our onion?