Peace Invades

A king once offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. There were only two from the many which he really liked. But the choice was difficult.

One picture was of a calm lake, a perfect mirror for towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. A perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains too but rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky with lightening and thunder and it poured furiously! Down the mountain side, a foaming waterfall hammered on rocks below.

The king had a close look at both the pictures. He chose the second to the surprise of all.

The close quick look saw behind the intimidating waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush, a mother bird had built her nest where she sat in perfect peace nursing the babies.

The King explained his choice, "Peace does not mean just a quiet place where there is no noise, danger or hard work. Peace found by the bush and the bird in the depth of their hearts in the midst of all that lightening and thunder and the rock-and-roll water fall has also true meaning of Peace.

Peace does not dwell in the outward things but within the soul. We may preserve it in the midst of bitterest pain if our will remain firm and submissive. Peace in this life springs from acquiescence, not in an exemption from suffering…. Fenelon

deBARred POWER of a PRAYER

In a small town in India, an enterprising fellow decided to open a Bar right opposite the Temple. The Temple priest and local community were outraged and started a campaign to block the coming up of the Bar with daily congregation and prayers against the evils of a Drinking Hole. They even filed a petition in the local court.

Work however continued to progress. By the time the whole structure came up, a lightning struck the edifice and it was razed to the ground.

The temple folks and devotees were simply delighted by the benevolent act of God. The Bar owner filed a counter petition now in the same court and sued the Temple authorities for the damage and destruction caused to his property on the grounds that but for their congregations and prayers, God would not have come down mercilessly on his fate.

Scared of heavy compensation in case so decreed by the court, the temple authorities vehemently denied any responsibility for the kind act of God through their prayers.

As the case progressed, the Judge remarked, "I don't know how I'm going to decide this case, but it appears from the proceedings conducted so far that we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and we have an entire temple and its devotees who don't.!"