3_12_The Wealthy Kingdom

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The wealthy kingdom

a story

here once was wealthy kingdom, in which the clinking of coins and the balanced exchanges of commerce defined daily life, and in which a kindly, compassionate king was miserable - for he saw that though his people were rich in goods, they were poor in spirit. Their lives had been reduced to a perpetual negotiation for more. One day, the wise king proclaimed that all coins, precious metals, and the holding of debt was abolished. He decreed that wealth would no longer be equated with the weight of one's purse, and that generosity would not longer be measured by the relative reluctance with which someone parted with a piece of silver.

In place of the old system, the king introduced a new one, revolutionary in its simplicity and radical in its implications. All exchanges, trades, and prices were obsolete, forever forbidden. Under this system, transactions based on fairness or reciprocity could not even begin to take place. The only currency that would hold any value in the new economy was the act of giving freely, with no expectation of return. The markets ground to a halt. How could one acquire what one needed if not through trade or purchase? The citizens were perplexed, and many lined up at the castle gates to speak their mind to the king, but the king, usually very compassionate and quick to listen to the troubles of his people, did not come out, nor did the castle gates open. As the day passed, hundreds of citizens waited together. At lunchtime, the local bakers, wanting to make sure that the crowd didn't disperse and give up and let the king have his way, brought loaves of bread, and the butcher dried meats, for the people to eat as they waited. As the afternoon wore on, a group of musicians, who were desperate for the ability to sell tickets again, came to play for the waiting-but-increasingly-restless crowd, which made the waiting much easier.

As the sun began to set, the castle door began to open, and everyone turned expectantly, ready to shout their complaints at the king - but were surprised when they saw not the king, but his young son, followed by a horse pulling a wagon filled with food. The boy called out (in his loudest voice) that everyone should take from the wagon what they need to feed their families for just that evening. He was sorry that his father was unable to come meet with them today, and if they would please return tomorrow that would be very kind. As the young prince spoke, the crowd fell silent, their complaints momentarily forgotten. One by one, they approached the wagon, finding it to contain not a managerie of goods to be sifted through, but boxes, each one labelled with names, one for every one of them. As they opened the boxes, they found gifts that were particular to their needs, in quantities well-measured and carefully procured. The atmosphere changed from one of unrest to one of gratitude and amazement as people explained to one another just how perfect the contents of their box truly were. This, of course, led to hours of people sharing stories of this particular item or that particular insightful gift, becoming friendly to those they had only known as strangers when the morning began.

The next morning, the crowd did gather again, but this time, they brought with them not grievances but offerings of their own, offerings which were uniquely based on the conversations they'd had with one another the day before, while they were sharing the ways their lives seemed threatened by the new economic policy. They had understood the king's lesson: in giving freely and directly, without expectation of return, they had created a wealth far greater than coins had ever provided—a wealth of community and mutual care. Suddenly, the castle gates opened, it was the king himself who greeted them, his eyes brimming with tears of joy. He saw before him a transformed kingdom, a people united not by competing for currency or commerce, but by compassion and generosity. "My beloved subjects," he began, his voice steady and clear, "you see now that true wealth is not held in the hand, but in the heart. You have all embraced the new currency of our realm: kindness, generosity, and love for one another." The king declared that day to be the beginning of a new era for the kingdom, one where the economy of grace would flourish. He invited his people to continue this practice of giving freely, promising that the castle's stores would always be open to support their efforts. "Let our kingdom be a beacon of hope," he said, "showing the world that it is not wealth that defines us, but the way we care for each other."

nd so, the kingdom prospered in ways it never had before. The people found joy in giving and receiving with open hearts. Their needs were met not through transaction, but through the bonds of community and the grace that flowed freely among them. The king, once so troubled by his people's poverty of spirit, now rejoiced in the richness of their hearts. And though the kingdom's coins and precious metals had been abolished, its people became known as the richest in the world, for they had discovered the infinite value of grace.

The End