Stone Soup for Soul

Stone Soup for soul

Beautiful morning in the City of La Paz, there is one man walking slowly around the alley searching and scavenging for leftover from the houses and restaurant nearby. He walked around the city for food as he did not eat for almost a week. A proper meal, for him, is like rain in the Sahara Desert. The last time he had his proper meal was last week, when someone accidently dropped the food on the ground and he walked fast enough to take the food before the crows of stray dogs eat it. He is very poor, but he never forgets to do his responsibility to God. He never missed his prayer, even though he always missed his meal. He always has faith in God. He never blames God for what he is now.

One day, as he walked around the city, he stopped under a big tree to rest his body for a while. When people passed by him, they gave him coins as if he is a beggar. He took the money, feeling grateful to the Almighty. After he rested for awhile, he went to the stall and bought some food from the money he had. He bought a loaf of bread for his dinner tonight. On his way back home, he heard children crying from one of the houses outside the city. Out of curiosity, he went to the house to find out what had actually happened. When he came near to the house, he heard that a woman said to her children that the food would be ready shortly, but he did not smell something from the kitchen. He knocked the on the door. The mother came out and saw an unfamiliar guy in front of the door. He asked the woman if there are any problems, the woman burst into tears and tell the man that she did not have any food left for her children. She just boiled the stone and told her children that he prepared a soup for them. She just wanted her kids to fall asleep while waiting for the food to be ready, so that they would not feel hungry. He felt sorry for that woman and her children. He then decided to give his bread to the woman and left the house.

That man never regretted his action of giving the bread to the family. He was happy to know that he is able to help people who are in need more than he does. Even though he knew that he will be starving for that day, he never regretted his decision. He went back to the city to look for food. On his way to the city, he fell down on the road and was unconscious. In his unconsciousness, he dreamt of his late father. His father was a wealth man but died in a helicopter crash outside Fallujah, the neighboring country of La Paz. His father’s body never recovered from the crash site. After the death of his father, the man has no one left. His uncle disbanded him and stole all the wealth that should be his. In his dream, his late father said that he is proud to have a son like him. His late father also told him to never give up in life and always help others who are in need, because by helping others, God will certainly help him back. His late father then told him to find someone in Fallujah who maybe can help him.

After he recovered, he tried to remember the name given by his late father in his dream. However he failed to remember the name. So he decided to walk for Fallujah and put his faith to God. He went to Fallujah that is located 20 Miles from La Paz. It took him more than a week to reach his destination. When he arrived, he tried to find the person mentioned by his father. As he walked in the city, he saw a big sign board of a restaurant, and it was written there that the name of that restaurant is “Stone Soup”. He remembered the poor woman back in La Paz who cooked stones for her children. When he approached the restaurant, someone greeted him. He did not recognize the addressee but the addressee recognized him, that man was a good friend of his father and he is the owner of that restaurant.

He told the man about his father and what had happen to him. The addressee knew it, and told him that before the incident, the addressee had made a promise to take his friend’s son if something happened to his friends who was the man’s father. The man was very happy and he felt very grateful and continuously praised the Almighty for His blessings and helps. Now that he works at the “Stone Soup” Restaurant, he leads a stable and happy life.