An old Chinese proverb tells the story of a great king who loved his people so much he wanted to build a wonderful garden for them. It would have beauty and be a place for peace and refreshment. All he asked was that each person gave one silver coin towards the construction. The idea was greeted with great acclaim and a big earthenware pot was put in the town centre for all to come and place their one silver coin in it. One man thought it was such a wonderful idea he decided he would put a gold coin in. Another man thought to himself, “I can’t really afford a silver coin, if I place a pebble in the pot no-one will notice when all the coins are counted and no-one will know I haven’t put anything of value in”. The time came when the king came and the pot was broken open, out poured thousands and thousands of pebbles….and just a few silver coins and one gold coin

 

All those people who had put a pebble in had thought that someone else would put something in for the garden, they thought that the fact that they had put nothing of value in would not be noticed and had decided to leave it to others to make the sacrifice. Sadly the garden the king had wanted to build for his people could not be built

 

In our streets, villages, towns and cities we all would like to have a beautiful and peaceful place to live. So it is obvious that we all have to make the effort and put something into our communities for this to happen. If it is left to only a few people it won’t happen. We cannot just expect our politicians and police and a few civic minded individuals to give us the society we want. Each one of us has to contribute and it might even amount to a sacrifice of our time and energy

 

 

At the start of a new era in our country if you were asked to contribute, to your street, your neighbourhood, your town what would you put in the earthenware pot, a silver coin or a pebble?