A king offered a large prize to the artist who could best represent the idea of peace. A lot of painters sent their works to the palace, depicting woods at dusk, quiet rivers, children playing on the sand, rainbows in the sky, drops of dew on a rose petal.
The king examined everything that was sent to him, but ended up choosing only two works.
The first showed a tranquil lake that perfectly mirrored the imposing mountains surrounding it and the blue sky above. The sky was dotted with small white clouds and, if you looked closely, in the left-hand corner of the lake there stood a small house with one window open and smoke rising from the chimney - the sign that a frugal but tasty supper was being prepared.
The second painting was also of mountains, but these were bleak and stony with sharp, sheer peaks. Above the mountains, the sky was implacably dark, and from the heavy clouds fell lightning, hail and torrential rain.
The painting was totally out of harmony with the other submissions. However, a closer look revealed a bird’s nest lodged in a crack in one of those inhospitable rocks. In the midst of the violent roaring of the storm, a swallow was calmly sitting on its nest.
When he gathered his court together, the king chose the second picture as the one that best expressed the idea of peace. He explained:
‘Peace is not what we find in a place that is free of noise, problems and hard work; peace is what allows us to preserve the calm in our hearts, even in the most adverse situations. That is its true and only meaning.'
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The swallow anticipates that the raging storm with its rains will bring forth growth, thus food.
But if, for arguments sake, the swallow does not have any imagination for the 'future', its blessing and its curse is that it acts within it's given nature - and that nature is to brave the storm. It's focus - its focus of existence - at any moment is to continue to exist, and to bring life into the world.
Seperating now the kings interpretation of the painting from the actual painting:
Whilst I agree with this particular king that during times adversity true peace is what allows us to preserve the calm in our hearts, nevertheless - one must ask - does this peace also allow calm to be preserved in the hearts of others?
Essentially what this asks is, can there be true peace in any one place in the world whilst there are yet other places where others suffer, (even if they be 'the enemy')? Is this the tranquility found when one hides from the rest of the world, waiting to be found, or is this the tranquility which embraces and challenges the rest of the world to join in with?
Also, is life and reality ever as simple as questions like this?
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