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 beautiful calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains 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 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.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

"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."

Why is it so difficult for us to recognize this ? It really is quite logical and sensible to adopt this attitude if we truly wish to find a measure of contentment and peace within ourselves. If we cannot even do this how can we expect to reach others ? And given the state of this world today this is an imperative if we are to leave anything but chaos and  destruction to those we are honour bound to protect and  to whom we most assuredly owe at least a world no worse off than we found it.

 We live in a world today which we have created. If not by our direct actions, certainly by our refusal to demand that our leaders act responsibly simply because we turned our backs and allowed this to happen. Our comfortable little niches were not being disturbed so why pay attention. Someone else would do it. Only we were wrong. No one else cared either, or at least not sufficiently to rouse us from the stupor of self interest and complacency we had allowed to permeate our lives. Peace? Hardly. More likely utter disaster only over the horizon. Will we only wake up when it is truly too late? And do we deserve any better ?

 I am beginning to seriously doubt it. But I do know our children deserve a great deal more. They deserve a chance to live in a world where kindness and respect for our fellow man is a prerequisite rather than  a distant memory. Unless, and until we recognize this and even more importantly, acknowledge that reaching out a hand in friendship to help those around this world who are so desperately in need and less fortunate than we are, we invite only disaster. For nothing breeds enmity  as quickly as brute force. Bombs instil hatred. Bullets cause enemies to multiply. Food and shelter, medicines, and  improving the quality of life of children  all over this planet creates friendship and goodwill. These things will eradicate the hatred now so prevalent  if we only  have the  common sense to see it. And to actually implement these policies rather than continue to make empty promises we have no motivation to fulfil.

 The monies now spent on armaments and  the costs associated with war would be so much more  conducive to achieving the peace we all claim to desire if used in this manner. Power hungry leaders will always exist but they must be made to do the bidding of the people they claim to serve rather than to be allowed free rein to wreak further havoc and increase the numbers of enemies we now face. We are quickly approaching the point where it will be too late to rein those leaders in. Have we lost all sense of decency ? Have we become so self involved and unfeeling that we  simply can't be bothered ? If this is the case we bear the responsibility for what happens  as surely as any despot or demonic world leader throughout history. Because we should know better.