Once upon a time in a little village set in a valley, there lived a poor man named Joseph. Each day he would leave his little hut and go about doing his daily chores. But wherever Joseph went he always carried a large sack slung over his shoulders.

You see, one day, when he was young, some boys of the village made fun of him by calling him names. When he called them names back, they did him one better by throwing stones at him. Since the boys were far too fast for him to catch and far too big for him to fight, he instead picked up all the stones they had thrown and put them into a sack he was carrying. When he got home, he carefully marked the name of each boy on each stone they had thrown.

As the days followed and the name calling continued, Joseph carefully collected all the stones and marked them. Unfortunately, Joseph lived in a time and in a place where everyone was given to throwing stones. Each time a stone was hurled, whether by a child or an adult, Joseph found it and marked it. Slowly his collections of stones began to grow.

Because the people of the valley knew what he was doing, Joseph worried that they might sneak into his hut while he was away and scatter his stones. So, each day he carried his sack, and each night he marked and sorted his stones. His daily load got heavier and heavier.

One day the king came to the village to pick a new judge over the people. He picked Joseph. He was to be the judge in all matters concerning the king and the kingdom. Dressed in his judicial robes, Joseph sat in judgment over all the people of the valley.

After a while, one by one, they all came before him for judgment. After the charge was read, Joseph reached into his sack and pulled out all the stones with the offender’s name on them. Five stones in the sack—five years in prison. Eight stones in the sack—eight years in prison. A year in prison for every stone in the sack with your name on it. There were 490 stones in all.

Strangely, however, as the sack got emptier, it never got lighter. In time there were no more stones in the sack, nor people in the valley. There were no more bakers to bake bread or farmers to grow food. No cobblers to fix shoes or tailors to sew clothes. There was no one to talk or eat with. And there was no one for the king to collect taxes from.

Joseph had given out justice. It made him feel good, but he was not happy. He was alone and lonely. At last, he decided he must do something before it was too late. Dressed in his judge’s robes he ordered that all the prisoners were to be set free. The occasion was celebrated with a great feast in the village square. There was eating and drinking and joy among the people. Joseph walked freely among them, giving greetings, and wishing them well.

Suddenly, an angry man, who was still mad at Joseph, shouted a curse at him and followed it with a stone. A hush fell over the crowd. Joseph reached down and picked up the stone. Once again, as he had done so many times in the past, he carefully marked it and put it into his sack. Turning slowly, he looked into the eyes of all the villagers. Then he lifted the sack as if to sling it over his shoulder. Instead, he began to swing it around and around and around over his head. Finally, he hurled it off into the distance. The crowd cheered and shouted.

From that day on, Joseph never carried his sack again. From that day on, there was never any need for him to.

Adapted from Stories for God’s People, by John Aurelio

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