Serenity is the Solution

Spiritual Advantage with Sam Stone

Looking at a pile of correspondence and reports from around the world to review and respond, an emperor of ancient China felt overwhelmed and couldn’t concentrate on his work. He wanted something to calm his mind down to get his work done.

He consulted the prime minister for a solution. The minister suggested hanging a giant, beautiful, calming painting in his office to induce serenity. The emperor agreed, and the minister hunted for the best artists in the country. He selected three artists to paint a picture for the emperor.

After consulting the emperor about his desire, the artists began their work. When they finished, the minister asked them to bring their finished paintings to the emperor’s office to let him choose.

The first one was a beautiful spring scenery of a flower garden. The second one was a peaceful winter lake with a snow-capped mountain behind. They all represented serenity very well.

The third one was a giant waterfall. The minister suggested eliminating the third one because a waterfall didn’t look serene. But the emperor said, “Stop, I think that’s the best one. Look! See the small bird nest with a family of birds sleeping peacefully in it despite the roaring waterfall by them. That’s exactly what I want.” (End of the story.)

This allegory teaches us that serenity does not require you to live like a hermit in a quiet mountain or deep forest away from civilization. True serenity is like those little birds staying calm and peaceful despite the turbulence in the environment.

There are two types of turbulence in life—failure and success. The effect of failure is easy to understand. Nobody likes failure. It makes us feel depressed, discouraged, and distressed. However, most people don’t know that success also disrupts our serenity. It’s equally harmful. Success is like sugar that tastes sweet but destroys our organs from the inside.

Most people know they should avoid failure but don’t realize they must also beware of sabotage by success. Don’t get me wrong! I am not talking about not attempting to succeed in your enterprise, but I mean not dwelling on it—not letting it disturb your serenity.

Depending on your age, I’m sure you have seen more people destroyed by success than failure. It was not because success was bad but because they dwelled on it.

Humans are pretty resilient. We can recover from failure repeatedly if we don’t give up. But few can recover from the destruction of success because of its sweetness. They thought it was a good problem to have. Before they realize it, permanent damage is done.

Jesus showed us how to handle both failure and success and how to move on. In this week’s scripture lesson, we can learn how Jesus maintained his serenity and humility despite his fame and success. We will learn valuable lessons from it. Let’s begin!