This was funny. Today, the "cloistered brothers" were reading about Cain and Abel, Genesis 4: 1-7. Cain farmed and Abel shepherded. For offerings to God, Cain offered fruit and vegetables, whereas, Abel offered the first-borns from his flocks. God accepted the meat offerings but wasn't thrilled with the fruit and vegetables. One of the "cloistered brothers" quipped, "because God hates vegetarians."
Of course that's not true. No one knows why God liked one offering and not the other. Some people surmise that it was the intentions of the giver. IOW, Abel offered the first-borns and Cain offered old and rejected fruit and vegetables. Scripture doesn't say exactly.
This led to a discussion of siblings and parenthood. From the siblings point of view, it wasn't fair. But we don't know God's reasons. As parents, sometimes our actions look like we prefer one child more than the other, but the parent may be helping the vulnerable child. A parent can't help each child equally because each child's needs are different that the others.
It was an interesting discussion.
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