STONE SOUP

“Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers were unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travelers. The travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful and which they would be delighted to share with the villager, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor.

The villager, who anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup, which has not yet reached its full potential. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by travelers and villagers alike. Although the travelers have thus tricked the villagers into sharing their food with them, they have successfully transformed it into a tasty meal, which they share with the donors”. (Wikipedia)

This folk story goes back at least to the fifteenth century. There are various traditions to the story. Many of us read this story to our children when they were small. It seems to me that families, churches, communities and nations need to get a pot of Stone Soup cooking openly and invite others to participate and to share the Soup. A lot of it seems like a last chance before we hit rock bottom.

“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?” Jesus