I am reminded of the parable, variously said to be of Japanese, Hasidic or Christian origin, of the long spoons. In it, a young person who is curious about heaven and hell is taken to a chamber in which a multitude of people are seated around an enormous round table in the center of which sits a huge pot of delicious-smelling stew. The people are emaciated and moaning in agony. Strapped to the arm of each one is a spoon whose handle is long enough to reach the stew, but so much longer than the holder’s arm that it is impossible for him to transport the food to his mouth.As apt a metaphor for deprivation and torment as you’re likely to find, wouldn’t you agree? The parable goes on to tell us that the young person is next taken to a room in which the situation is exactly the same, the stew, the round table, the long spoons strapped to the people’s arms, but these people are surprisingly plump, cheerful and contented.

The difference? These people have learned to use the long spoons to feed each other.

An economic downturn like the one we’re in can certainly be hellish, but, as in the parable, we can choose to make it better or worse by our own actions. We all certainly have to see to the needs of ourselves and our families, but we also live in a community, and economic hard times can be as damaging to that community as they can be challenging to us as individuals. Part of the challenge, in fact, is in recognizing that we all draw sustenance in one way or another from our community and discovering what role each of us can play in keeping it strong and vital, in making it the kind of place that enriches our lives.

Not everyone can endow a scholarship fund or make a lead donation to a capital campaign, but everyone can do something: man a booth at a non-profit bazaar, donate an item to a charity auction, help to plan a fundraising event for an organization that is doing good work, contribute canned goods to a food drive, sign up to tutor a child or walk an abandoned pet, pledge a monthly contribution to a favorite non-profit in an amount that is not a hardship. It’s our community and we all live in it together. Let’s use our long spoons to nourish each other — not just our bellies, but also our minds, hearts, and spirits.

Homer resident Ann Keffer is the author of two children’s books: “The Seventh Chair” and “The ABCs of Kachemak Bay.” Since 2001, she has served on the board of the Homer Foundation, a community organization dedicated to enriching the southern peninsula through philanthropy. For more information about the foundation, go to its Web site at www.homerfund.org.

This article published in the Homer News. Thursday, January 28, 2010, part of a year-long series of articles on philanthropy generated by volunteers for the Homer Foundation.