Sharing
Gifts
“Whatever
you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do
it.”
Mahatma
Gandhi
Remember
that old folktale Stone Soup? Some travelers come to a village
carrying only a cook-pot. They ask the townspeople to share food with
them, but the people, who are poor and hungry themselves, refuse.
The travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water and set it
over a fire. They select one large stone from the stream and put it
into the pot. Townspeople wander by and ask what they are cooking.
The travelers tell them it is stone soup; very delicious, but it is
not quite complete. It needs some seasoning they don't have. One
villager says, 'well, I have a handful of carrots I can give you.'
Another person contributes salt, another a potato, and so it goes,
until the travelers end up with a nutritious pot of soup, which they
share with the villagers.
I
went to a Bible study group this week in which the parable of the
talents was discussed. A rich man is going away on a journey. He
calls his three servants to him, and gives each of them some talents;
five to one, two to another, and one to the third, 'each according to
his ability'. When he returns after a long time, he calls them again
to 'settle their accounts'. The servants who had received five and
two, had put their talents to work and doubled their master's
investment. The third had taken his one talent and buried it in the
ground for fear of losing it. The two 'good and faithful servants'
were rewarded with more, and the one who had buried his talent was
punished and banished. Whether you interpret the talent as a lot of
money, or as assets we are born with or acquire, the message is
clear. Our job is to make the most of what we have been given.
I
know I've been on my high horse this week about all the wrongs of the
world—and there are many—but there is nothing that
can't be solved if we all contribute our gifts. Your gifts may be
many or few. Whatever they are, they are as important to the overall
good as seasoning to a soup.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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