During our Sunday Service this week, we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. in a lesson called “A New Dream.” An unknown author writes:
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 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, 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...perfect peace.
The King chose the second picture, because he explained, “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.
Certainly, for those of us living in the world today, it is the kind of peace that we long for and seek to find. On the wall of the Silent Unity chapel at Unity Village, it says, “Be still and know that I am God.” In one of the other meditation chapels, a sign says “Peace, be still.” Inner peace is the intention. But how do we find inner peace amidst our difficulties?
There is a five-minute exercise you can do whenever you feel the need.
- Touching your thumb to your index finger, travel back to a time when you felt a healthy exhaustion after exerting yourself physically, such as cleaning house, biking, mowing the lawn.
- Touching your thumb to your middle finger, take a moment to breathe in peace.
- Touching your thumb to your ring finger, try to remember the most caring, loving gesture you have ever received, and
- Touching your thumb to your little finger, travel back to the most magnificent place that you have seen or dreamed about. Take this moment to absorb all the beauty that surrounds you.
All you have to do is pause and practice peace for a few moments and your level of calm and serenity increases dramatically.
May peace be with you!
Love & blessings,
Rev. Kathy