During a time of drought and famine, the prophet Elijah went on god's bidding to the town of Zarephath. There he encountered a widow and her son who were also dying of hunger. The widow had only "a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a cruse." By a miracle, these proved enough to keep all three persons fed. The unfailing cruse of oil was no doubt similar in shape to this graceful vessel, of a sort commonly used to hold wine, oil or honey in the Holy Land. We can never know for certain the past history of such an object. But as we hold it in our hands today, our imagination takes endless flight.