The mouse and the dove

For the last two days, I've been staying in Oroville with my long-time friend, Joetta. She and her lab Chesty (short for Chestnut), live in the country on 20 acres of rolling meadowland dotted with mossy rocks, giant oak trees and black satin blackberries. Joetta teaches middle school children with profound learning disabilities. She is a potter. She makes the best blackberry jam I've ever tasted. And she has worked for peace most of her life.

A few minutes ago, Jo showed me this little story. I want to share it with you. It comes from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

"What is the weight of a snowflake?" a coal mouse asked a wild dove.

"Nothing more than nothing," the dove answered.

"In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal mouse said.

"One day, I was sitting on the branch of a fir tree, when it began to snow. Since I didn't have anything better to do that day, I decided to count the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. I counted exactly three million, seven hundred and forty-one thousand, nine hundred and fifty-two. When the next snowflake fell -- nothing more than nothing, as you say -- the branch broke off."

The dove, who since Noah's time had been an authority on such things, thought about the story for a while. "Perhaps," she said finally, "there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come about in the world."