The document tells a story about a king who placed a large rock in the middle of a busy road to see if anyone would move it. Wealthy people simply walked around it while complaining, but a poor farmer stopped to remove the rock from the road despite receiving no help from others. After much effort, he succeeded and found a bag of money left by the king as a reward. The moral is that taking responsibility, like the farmer did, builds community even if there is no instant reward. It makes life better for everyone.
16. Long, long ago, a king had a big rock
placed in the middle of a busy road.
Then he hid nearby to see if anyone
would move the rock out of the way.
Some of the king’s wealthiest
supporters came passed and simply
walked around it. Many others
moaned and complained about the
rock and many blamed the king for
the problem, but no-one did
anything about moving it out of the
way.
17. Eventually, a poor farmer came along, carrying a load
of old vegetables. When he saw the rock, he put down
his load, and tried to move the heavy rock to the side
of the road. No-one stopped to help him. Many
laughed at him and made jokes as they walked past.
Finally, after much pushing and straining, and with no
help, he managed to get the rock to the side of the
road. As he bent down to pick up his vegetables, he
noticed a small bag lying in the road, exactly where
the rock had been. The bag contained a lot of money
and a note from the king saying that the money
bag was for the person who moved the rock out of the
way.
18. Taking responsibility is about taking care
of things. The farmer in this story takes
responsibility when no-one else is
prepared to. Taking responsibility does
not always mean that you will get an
instant reward, but it is a value that
builds up community, and will make life
better for all of us.
