Peace parable
Someone, no idea who, sent me this story via email years ago, and I seem to have kept it for just this moment.
There was a woman who wanted peace in the world and peace in her heart and all sorts of good things, but she was very frustrated. The world seemed to be falling apart. She would read the newspapers and get depressed.
One day she decided to go shopping, and she went into a mall and picked a store at random. She walked in and was surprised to see Jesus behind the counter. She knew it was Jesus because he looked just like the pictures she’d seen on holy cards and devotional pictures. She looked again and again at him, and finally she got up enough nerve and asked, “Excuse me, are you Jesus?”
“I am.”
“Do you work here?”
“No,” Jesus said, “I own the store.”
“Oh, what do you sell in here?”
“Oh, just about anything!”
“Anything?”
“Yeah, anything you want. What do you want?”
She said, “I don't know.”
“Well,” Jesus said, “feel free, walk up and down the aisles, make a list, see what it is that you want, and then come back and we'll see what we can do for you.”
She did just that, walked up and down the aisles. There was peace on earth, no more war, no hunger or poverty, peace in families, no more drugs, harmony, clean air, careful use of resources. She wrote furiously. By the time she got back to the counter, she had a long list.
Jesus took the list, skimmed through it, looked up and smiled, “No problem.” And then he bent down behind the counter and picked out all sorts of things, stood up, and laid out the packets.
She asked, “What are these?”
Jesus replied, “Seed packets. This is a catalog store.”
She said, “You mean I don't get the finished product?”
“No, this is a place of dreams. You come and see what it looks like, and I give you the seeds. You plant the seeds. You go home and nurture them and help them to grow and someone else reaps the benefits.”
“Oh,” she said.
And she left the store without buying anything. Oh, Beloved One. How often do we do this? Often enough. We step back from the “farming” of our dreams because we fear that they’ll take too much out of us.
Alternatively, how often do we invest in our dreams, especially dreams of peace for ourselves and the world, not knowing when or if they will yield any result? Often enough, as well.
If the quality of the seed is assured, as it is with peace, then the tiniest investments stand to yield remarkable results. Just remember that one of the most famous seed-sowers of all, Johnny Appleseed, did not stick around for pie!
Visit Susan Corso’s spiritual blog or subscribe to Seeds at www.susancorso.com.
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