The Real Meaning of Peace

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Hebrews 12:14

Its difficult to fathom what is Peace. The Religions of the world talk about peace, Prayers begin with utterance or signs of peace, its a culture in many places to welcome or greet you in Peace. But Peace is elusive. To attain Peace you have to experience it, to experience it you have to understand it, to understand you have to know it and to know it you have to be on the opposite side. Here is a small story written by an unknown author who has done his best in trying to illustrate "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. There were many well known artists in and around the kingdom who tried their best. The king examined all the pictures minutely and narrowed down to two of them. But he had to choose only one of them.


One picture was of a calm and serene lake. It was a perfect mirror of peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds that gave an aura of tranquility. Everyone 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. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.


But when the king looked closely, 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 - in perfect peace.


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."