Martin & Elizabeth’s Class (Zoom) Fellowship

On Tuesday evening, 7th April, nine members of Martin & Elizabeth’s Class Fellowship, braved technology and held a Zoom video meeting.

It was a great opportunity to “meet up, face to face” in the peace and quiet of their homes and catch up on what they were all getting up during the lockdown.

They all shared news and concerns of their families, friends and neighbours and how they were all coping with living is these very strange times.

They sang “Be still, for the presence of the Lord” to a backing track, that worked well.

Martin read the story shown below and then closed the meeting with prayer.

They decided to meet again every two weeks during the lockdown.

A Story of Perfect Peace

There was once a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of Peace.

Martin closed the meeting with this story.

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 the peaceful towering mountains all around it.

Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had a mountain, too. But these were rugged and bear Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played.

Down the side of the mountain tumbled the foaming waterfall.

This didn't 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 and 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 doesn't 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 become in your heart.

That is the real meaning of peace

Martin Sykes