The Mirabelle Jam and the End of Wars
It was a summer full of golden fruit.
The mirabelle trees bent low under the weight of their sweet gifts,
as if to remind us
that abundance in nature is no accident,
but its very essence.
Nora, from my Pilates class, stood in her kitchen stirring jam.
Jar by jar filled with sunlight, patience, and love.
Her labour was not meant for sale, but for sharing.
And while, somewhere far away,
factories roared, ledgers were balanced, and weapons shipped,
Nora’s kitchen filled with the quiet scent of peace.
There are two worlds.
One is the world of money.
Where value is measured in numbers,
not in joy or gratitude.
People work to sell,
and sell to survive.
Stillness means collapse,
so scarcity must remain—
so that buying never stops.
This world feeds on destruction,
for rebuilding brings profit.
Once they called it a “miracle of growth.”
Today they still call it progress.
The other world is gentler.
It lives where we spend time with our children,
where we care for our elders,
where we make sure someone can rise again tomorrow.
It lives where people act out of kindness.
Where Juliane and Iris sew dresses,
not for payment,
but to bring someone joy.
Where Nora cooks jam
and places it into grateful hands.
In this world, another law prevails:
Whoever gives, becomes richer.
Gratitude is the wage,
and trust replaces contracts.
Once, it was hard to find such people,
but now there is a net
that connects us all.
It could be used
to build a world of giving—
a platform where each offers what they have
and finds what they need.
But for now, this net still serves the old world:
it sells, it seduces, it compares.
It could be a tool for generosity—
but for now, it is a market.
Perhaps no revolution is needed.
No laws, no takeovers.
Only a free and peaceful choice.
If one morning people were to say,
“From today, we want gratitude instead of money,”
then weapons would become useless,
for no one would build them freely.
And in the factories and workshops
a quiet smile would appear—
the smile of those
who act from JOY.
The mirabelle jam tells us
that it is possible.
It shows that abundance grows
only when it is shared.
Perhaps peace does not begin
with treaties or conferences,
but with a woman
who cooks jam
and gives it away instead of selling it.
For whoever gives,
disarms the world.
In chaos theory they say
the flap of a butterfly’s wing in Brazil
can set off a tornado in Mexico.
Perhaps one jar of mirabelle jam
is enough to set peace in motion.
Explanations
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the global economy will grow by a further 25 per cent by 2030. This growth is necessary in today’s system in order to secure wages, pensions, social security contributions and, of course, profits – because money is only created when something new is constantly being produced and sold.
The problem is that it is now almost impossible to generate even more growth in a peaceful or meaningful way. The largest revenues have long been generated by armament, arms trade and reconstruction after wars or natural disasters. Read More
Berlin, 14 October 2025 Eberhard Licht
Contact: licht@Benharmonia.net