A Portrait of Peace

 Given all the challenges God’s people and the world, I wonder sometimes how we might find peace.  Then I remembered a story, whose author is unknown.  I would like to share it with you:

   “There was once a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried, and the King evaluated them all. After much deliberation the King was down to the last two. He had to make a choice.

 The two were similar but different: Picture number one portrayed a calm lake that was a perfect mirror of snowcapped mountains that towered around the lake. Overhead fluffy white clouds floated in a blue sky. Everyone who saw this picture said that it was the perfect picture of peace. Picture number two portrayed mountains as well; however, the mountains were rugged and bare. Above was an angry dark sky with lightning flashing. Rain pelted the earth. Down the side of the mountain was a foaming water fall. A storm was clearly raging. This picture was so different from the first that, at first glance, it did not appear to be a peaceful place at all.

However, when the King looked closely, he saw that, behind the waterfall, was a tiny bush growing. Inside the bush, a mother bird had built her nest. There sitting just behind the angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest…trusting herself to her Creator. The King chose this picture as the perfect picture of peace. The King explained his choice: ‘Peace is found, not only in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. True peace is found in the midst of things as they are. That is the meaning of real peace.’”

It seems to me that we can learn from this story. With all that is going on around us, we might just simply slow down, trust our Creator, breathe in deeply Jesus (The Prince of Peace’s) breath of life, become living souls and then listen to our Lord’s guidance.  As we face all that is “thrown at us,” we just might experience peace.

Try doing this, and you just might…
Be Blessed 2day… Especially 2day.

SoJourner