One Girl’s Heaven is Another Man’s Hell

Once upon a time, a five year old girl named Jayden Sink decided to set up a lemonade stand to raise money for charity. Her plan was a big success! She and her father raised over $170 selling cups of lemonade to local residents—and much more in a matching online fundraiser. Here they are at the lemonade stand:

Jayden and her Dad at the lemonade stand

(Photo courtesy of FRESHCASSETTE – Creative Compassion)

Where did Jayden get the idea of selling lemonade for charity?

It may have helped that her father, Jon Sink, founded the humanitarian organization FRESHCASSETTE – Creative Compassion, which raises money for charities such as World Bicycle Relief and The Water Project by distributing free music and requesting donations from anyone who enjoys it.

What charity did Jayden’s lemonade stand benefit?

The money from the fundraiser went to Planting Peace, whose international projects include support for orphanages and safe havens, deworming programs, and anti-bullying campaigns. With permission, Jayden and her father set up their lemonade stand in Topeka, Kansas, on the front lawn of “Equality House,” which is owned and operated by the Planting Peace organization.

The locals showed up in droves to buy Jayden’s lemonade. For her, it was like a magical fairy tale—a little slice of heaven!

But not everyone thought her lemonade stand was heavenly. In fact, the neighbors across the street didn’t like it one little bit. They tried their best to squash little Jayden’s lemonade stand.

They thought it came straight out of hell.

Enter the wicked witches and warlocks of the west

Okay, they weren’t really wicked witches and warlocks. And this is real life, not a fairy tale.

The neighbors across the street who didn’t like Jayden Sink’s lemonade stand were members of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Yes, the “church” that goes around the country picketing military funerals, waving strident anti-gay posters, and shouting insults and obscenities at those whose lives they don’t approve of.

Here is a photo of Jayden’s lemonade stand from a different angle, with the Westboro Baptist Church in the background:

Jayden Sink and the Westboro Baptist Church

(Photo courtesy of FRESHCASSETTE – Creative Compassion)

When the members of the Westboro Baptist Church heard about Jayden’s fund-raiser, they did their best to put a stop to it. They called the local police to try to get it banned. That didn’t work. So they resorted to their usual tactics of shouting insults and obscenities to try to get Jayden, her father, and the visiting crowds of lemonade-lovers to go away.

That didn’t work, either.

In fact, the event went viral, and raised far more money via the Internet than it did selling lemonade to the locals.

Now the web is abuzz with people wondering how lame is a church that tries to shut down a five-year-old’s lemonade stand, and whether it is irresponsible for parents to involve their young children in social activism and conflict.

Lemonade stand: heaven or hell?

Those discussions and debates will rage on.

What really struck the two of us about the encounter between Jayden and the Westboro Baptist Church was how differently each side perceived the same event.

• For Jayden, her father, and all the people who supported their charitable fundraiser, it was a wonderful, heavenly event that showed the goodness and generosity of human hearts.
• For the members of the Westboro Baptist Church, it was a terrible, insulting affront to their church and to humanity sponsored by moral reprobates who are going to hell in a handbasket.

In other words, one girl’s heaven is another man’s hell.

Are heaven and hell really just a matter of perspective? Is it all relative?

In some ways, yes. Whatever we love and enjoy, we think of as good and heavenly. Whatever we hate and find loathsome, we think of as hellish.

• For some, a nice juicy steak is heaven, while a plate of tofu stir-fry is hell. For others, it’s just the opposite.
• For some, faithful, committed, monogamous marriage is most heavenly. For others, monogamy is a hellacious bore, and if there is a heaven, it must offer an unending supply of sexual partners.
• For some, doing useful work that serves their fellow human beings provides heavenly joy every day. For others, the workday is hell, and heaven begins when it’s finally time to relax afterwards.

Of course, some of our different perceptions of whether things are heavenly or hellish are just matters of taste. To quote the old saying correctly, “One man’s meat is another man’s poison.” If some people like meat and potatoes and others like tofu and vegetables, everyone can eat the foods they like, and everyone will be happy.

However, this very thought leads to the real, non-relative difference between heaven and hell.

When we are in a heavenly state of mind and life, we gain our joy by giving joy to others. When your joy is my joy and my joy is your joy, then everyone’s happiness is increased by everyone else’s. It all adds together to create greater happiness and joy the more people who participate in it. In heaven, everyone can be happy all at once, and everyone’s happiness grows.

When we are in a hellish state of mind and life, we gain our pleasure by giving others pain. If others have things they enjoy, we enjoy taking those things away from them. If other people are happy, we want to hurt them and destroy their happiness. When my pleasure is your pain and your pleasure is my pain, conflict is inevitable. In hell, where some people’s happiness depends on other people’s misery, no one can stay happy very long.

So was Jayden’s lemonade stand heavenly or hellish?

Looking at this picture, the answer seems obvious to us. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

People enjoying Jayden Sink’s Lemonade Stand for Peace

(Photo courtesy of FRESHCASSETTE – Creative Compassion)

About Lee

Lee Woofenden is an ordained minister, writer, editor, translator, and teacher. He enjoys taking spiritual insights from the Bible and the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and putting them into plain English as guides for everyday life.