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A
Portrait of Peace
There once was
a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture
of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but
there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them. One
picture was of a calm lake.
The lake was a
perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it.
Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture
thought it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other
picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an
angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightening played. Down the
side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look
peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a
tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had
built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the
mother bird on her nest.
The King chose
the second picture.
"Because,"
explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there
is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst
of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the
real meaning of peace." |
