The Real Meaning 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. One picture was of a calm lake that mirrored peaceful, towering mountains surrounding the lake. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare with an angry sky striking out with slashing rain and lightning. Down the side of the mountain roared a waterfall – anything but peaceful. When the king looked closely, however, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing through a crack in the rock.

A mother bird had built her nest there. In the midst of the rush of angry water, the mother bird sat on her nest in perfect peace. Which picture won the prize? The king chose the second picture. He explained that “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.