Hunger stones…

…are large stones in riverbeds.

In bygone times, they used to warn those word-users able to read of not enough to eat.

Did you know when the printing press was invented ,584 years ago, only 8% of the then-400 million world-wide population of word-users could read and write? (The number of word-users is meanwhile 9 billion with no end in sight)

“Who sees me will weep”…

…used to be written on the hunger stones.

Where they still exist, hunger stones are visible only in times of drought .
In the rainy season, they remain out of sight below the river’s waters.
Fact, they are fast becoming an artifact of a meanwhile distant past.

Where I reside, in Switzerland, there are rivers aplenty, but I’ve never yet seen a hunger stone myself.

Where have they gone?

TAKEAWAY

I think the idea of hunger stones remains relevant today, and I’m not talking of the “Do not cross the road”-type warnings.

I think everybody ought to have their personal hunger stone. To each their own, of course.

I sure wish I had a hunger stone 5 years before I declared bankruptcy. I’ve since recovered, it happened years ago (if you don’t know me, in case you worry). I now spend less than my income, the only way to avoid bankruptcy.

These days, I rather think like Martin Keogh and Hubert Reeves think:

• “Currently, man is waging war against nature. If he wins, he is lost.” – Hubert Reeves
• “When you look at the science about what is happening on Earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse.” – Martin Keogh

Do you have a hunger stone? What’s written on yours? I’d love to hear and yes, feedback’s a gift 🙂

#education #inspiration #LessonsFromHistory #word