The document introduces two brothers, Hunky and Dory, citizens of the Kingdom of Food. The kingdom focuses heavily on studying cookbooks and discussing recipes, yet citizens remain hungry. Hunky discovers a passage mentioning eating food with the mouth, not just hearing about it. He attends a meeting where people are using their mouths to eat food, resolving their hunger. Hunky tries it and experiences eating for the first time, to the joy of those around him.

1. WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM OF FOOD
This is the story of two brothers, Hunky and Dory, citizens of the Kingdom of
Food...
The Kingdom of Food was a small but influential kingdom, part way between
Here and There, bordered on one side by a forest and on the other by a deep
chasm. The Kingdom of Food was a quite exclusive kind of kingdom: there was
absolutely no way to become a citizen except by being born as one. There were
no provisions in the Food Kingdom for such things as purchased citizenship, or
marrying a citizen, or being educated to the point of becoming a citizen. The
only way was to be born, and Hunky and Dory were very happy that they had
been. Many times they had said to one another, "Think of it! Out of all the
people on this planet, you and I are citizens of the Kingdom of Food! Wow!"
This was a fairly common sentiment among the citizens, so that they wanted to
do all they could for the advancement of the Kingdom. To this end, many
organized informal Cookbook study groups in their homes to help the other
citizens to gain a proper understanding of food. These were very popular,
spreading even to school dormitories and military bases. Many of the citizens
were so inspired by these that they would get up early each morning to read a
recipe or two before going to work. They memorized many ingredients and
could rattle off whole recipes for everything from flapjacks to well-done
Chateaubriand steak. A few, who were more devoted persons, went to special
schools to learn more about food, paying special attention to the various
scholarly theories of Nutrition, as well as advanced language study to prevent
any possible error in translating recipes. An entire organization came into being
for the sole purpose of producing the Cookbook in many different languages.
On a certain day each week all of the citizens of the Food Kingdom gathered in
many large stainless steel and chrome kitchens to listen to an authority (most

2. often a graduate of one of the special schools) give a talk on a certain aspect of
food, or elaborate on a certain favorite recipe. If he were a well-known person,
a large hall might be rented so that more could come to hear him. These weekly
kitchen meetings were thought by many to be as essential to the Food Kingdom
as the Cookbook itself.
There was one problem, however - nearly all of the people in the Kingdom of
Food were undernourished and hungry, although not many of them would admit
it. This produced an inner frustration unequaled in any society: they knew from
their Cookbook reading and from the kitchen talks that Food alone was
sufficient to give them strength and see them through every situation. Food was
all that they needed; they would die before denying that. But what about that
hungry feeling inside...? Most tried to quench it by more Cookbook study,
going to more kitchen talks, or by volunteering for a utensil and pan polishing
summer project in some far-off place. Yet, no matter what the citizens of the
Food Kingdom tried, it was of no use, for the hungry feeling persisted.
Every citizen of the Kingdom of Food could remember at least one time
(usually when he was very, very young) when that hungry feeling had not been
there. Some, too, had a recollection that from to time to time, and then
seemingly by accident, something had happened that had temporarily eased that
hunger, but none could remember exactly what had happened and no one had
been able to repeat the experience at will. All they knew was that sometimes
that hungry feeling was gone. But, sadly, most of the time it was very present.
One day, as Hunky was reading in his Cookbook, part way though the fourth
recipe in the fourth Section of the New Portion, he found this phrase: "...must
eat food with the mouth." He had never seen that word "mouth" used in quite
that way before. He looked up "mouth" in the index of his Cookbook and read
every reference carefully. He had always been taught that his mouth and his ear

3. were the same, so that he always assumed that hearing about food was good
enough; but here were several places (and in his very own Cookbook, too!) that
seemed to show that his ear and his mouth were not the same, and what was
more, that he could actually eat food if he could only figure out where his
mouth was and how to use it! His thoughts raced back to a few months before
when he had heard a remark about some kind of kitchen-meeting on the other
side of town that was considered somewhat strange because of their talk about
"something called their mouth..." Hunky decided to go see.
He practically ran to the address. When he got there he was surprised in that he
didn't find the usual stainless steel and chrome, but rather a plain place that
hardly looked like a kitchen at all. As he approached, he could tell that those
inside weren't waiting for the meeting to begin, but he wasn't so sure just what
was happening.
As he came through the front door, he saw a large room crowded with tables,
each table having a great amount of food on it. He recognized that it was food
because many times he had seen pictures of food in his Cookbook and at some
of the kitchen-meetings that he had been to. Some of his friends had Cookbooks
with a roast chicken on the front, and one kitchen-meeting he had been to had a
large mosaic standing rib roast on the front of the building. He had read and
heard many detailed descriptions of food, especially when some of the ones
giving the kitchen talks had shared about the early days when the kitchens were
first formed; so he recognized food when he saw it. The only thing was that he
couldn't tell just what those people were doing with the food. He had never seen
anything like it before, and for a moment he doubted that people like this could
tell him anything he didn't already know. Remembering, however, the purpose
of his visit, he walked up to a man standing near him just inside the entryway.

4. "Excuse me," Hunky said, "what group is this?" "Oh, we're just citizens of the
Kingdom of Food," the man replied, smiling. "What are they doing?" Hunky
ventured, gesturing toward the others. "Oh, just enjoying the food," was the
reply. That perplexed Hunky a bit. "Enjoying the food..." he thought. That didn't
sound quite right. Food, Hunky had been taught, was to be held in high esteem,
not to be "enjoyed"! He had known a lot of folks who knew a lot about food and
the Cookbook, but he had never head one of them talk about enjoying food.
"What do you mean, 'enjoying the food'?" he further asked the man. "I mean
just using your mouth to eat the food and take it into you." Mouth … eat - there
were those words again. "This must be the place," thought Hunky, a bit excited.
"I was just reading today about eating by using your mouth," Hunky said, "but
frankly, I didn't understand it so much. Aren't the ear and the mouth the same?"
"Definitely not," the man said firmly. "Your ear can hear about food but you
really need to use your mouth to get it into you. That's the only answer for
hunger." Hunger... That described too well the frustrating feeling Hunky had
had for some time and which he knew his friends to have too. "That's the
answer?" he said, a little bewildered. "Sounds too simple to me... What about
Cookbook study and kitchen talks and so on?"
The man paused, then said, "Those are good, but if you're not eating the food,
what good is it to know about it? Your mouth is the only way to eat food. We've
found that by using our mouth all the time, we can stay filled up with food. It's
so satisfying..." At that point they were interrupted by a group at one table who
had all stood up together and sung a short song with the words: "We're so glad
that we have found our mouth! Now we eat the food; we have found our
mouth!" Everyone else voiced their agreement that they, too, were glad about
having found their mouth as well. Then another person stood up waving what
looked like a barbecued sparerib. "Watch!" he exclaimed loudly, and then did
something with the sparerib that Hunky was not familiar with. "What'd he do?"

5. Hunky whispered to the man. "He was just showing everyone how easy it is to
eat food with your mouth," the man said. "I don't understand," Hunky said.
"How do you find your mouth and how do you eat with it?" The man grinned.
"I asked that same question once, but as soon as I used my mouth one time, I
didn't need to ask any more. I've been eating ever since. The same goes for you
- once you use your mouth and eat the food even just a little, you'll see."
Just then another person who had been sitting at one of the tables came over
toward Hunky and the man that he had been talking to. He introduced himself
and invited Hunky to come sit with him at his table. Hunky still didn't
understand all this about his mouth and really eating food, but he went over. On
the table was a platter with many pieces of baked chicken. Hunky was
immediately aware that the skin was a bit too dry, the thighs had not been cut
away at the correct point, and the wings were folded together improperly.
Hunky tried to mention this quietly to his new acquaintance, but he didn't seem
to be at all interested. Indeed, he replied, "That's okay - the main point is that
you eat. Here's a drumstick." Hunky was completely befuddled. He had never
held a real drumstick in his hand, although he had seen paintings of them and
had read about them. His host saw the look on his face and encouraged him to
take a bite.
Hunky was very, very, unsure of himself at this point, but he figured that he
couldn't lose much, so he tried his best to do just what the others were doing.
When he took his first bite, many things happened at once. Those at his table,
realizing that that was Hunky's first deliberate bite of food, practically exploded
with joy. "I think he did it!" said one. "Hurray!" shouted another. "that was your
mouth you used just then," his friend explained. "You just ate some food."
Mouth … ate some food - those words now became more than words to Hunky
-HE HAD FOUND HIS MOUTH!

6. The rest of that evening was more than he had ever imagined possible. If
knowing about food was good, eating it was a thousand times better! He wanted
to sample everything, and he even took some food home with him that night.
He hoped that he would never stop eating. And to think that just yesterday he
hadn't even known about his mouth. "Wow," he thought, "that hungry feeling is
gone. This must be the secret, just like that man said. Wait till I tell my brother."
The next day Hunky went over to see Dory, his brother. He was eager to tell
him of his new discovery and wanted Dory to discover his mouth too. Hunky
took a drumstick from the night before so he could show Dory how to eat. He
explained in detail, beginning from the time that he had been reading his
Cookbook until he took his first bite of food, using his mouth. Then he
produced the drumstick and said, "Here, Dory, try it!" Dory was somewhat
repulsed by the thought of eating food, and especially appalled to hear that
Hunky really believed that his mouth was something distinct from his ear. He
took the drumstick from Hunky in a condescending manner and said, "Well, it
doesn't look like a real drumstick to me. Let's see..." With that he poked the
drumstick into his ear. "Nope," he said, "it doesn't sound like a drumstick to me.
Besides, the skin is quite clearly too dry and it's not cut correctly. Sorry, I can't
accept it." "But Dory," Hunky began. "Forget it," Dory broke in. "I know
enough about food to know something real when I see it." With that Dory
picked up his Cookbook and went outside for his daily hour of recipe reading
and memorization.
Hunky left for home, a bit discouraged by his brother's reaction. As he was
walking, he began to feel hungry, but he was thinking so hard about his brother
that he didn't give it much thought but just took out a lamb chop from the night
before and began to eat it. Halfway through, he realized what was happening,
and he got excited all over again. He really did have a mouth and food could
really be eaten! He'd never be discouraged again, for he knew it was so.

7. To understand this parable, there is a simple key:
The people of the kingdom are the Christ-born family.
The food is simply Christ Himself, as nourishment indeed.
The Cookbook is the Word of God, our inner man to feed.
The ear and mouth are not the same: 'tis clear as it could be;
These are the mind and spirit, deep inside of you and me.
Our spirit, deep and hidden, may seem difficult to find;
But once we've touched the Lord there, we'll be sure it's not our mind!
The kitchens, cold and proper, are the "churches" of today;
But on the other side of town we've found another way.
We've left the old religion, with its forms and doctrines dead,
And now by taking Christ as life we eat the Lord instead.
Now if these words offend you, with your doctrines do not mix,
We urge you, friend, to read again the message of John 6.
The purpose of this parable is now made full complete;
The point is plain enough to see, that Christ is meant to eat.
If Hunky is your present state, you smile to hear this story;
But if you find yourself irate, your name's most likely Dory.
Yet even to Dory comes this cry: CHRIST IS REALITY!
And Christ today is good for food - just taste and you shall see.