Life is a parable. How you interpret it is meant for you alone. How I interpret it is for me alone. My interpretation will not fulfill your purpose and your interpretation will not fulfill my purpose.

A significant portion of the lessons Jesus taught were in parables. His apostles spent a great deal of time debating their interpretations before going back to the Master and presenting their ideas to ask who was right. But, it was in the asking that they admitted failure to fully comprehend the lesson.

The lesson of a parable is independent to each individual. Everyone will interpret the lesson differently, in the way that is most meaningful to him or her in that moment. The discussion of various interpretations is part of the lesson, to invite deeper thinking, understanding and meditation, not to fight over who is right and who is wrong. There is no single, correct view point that fits all.

So many insist on heading to the battle field of social media every single day, pushing others to see it their way with the “good intention” of saving someone from either eternal damnation or believing lies. It only serves to perpetuate the never-ending religious war. Not only is it insanity multiplied by centuries, but the fighters invalidate their own message in the very act of fighting about it!

If we, as individuals, could learn to sit in silence and hear Jesus speaking to our hearts, we could end this war and every war. We have that power. He tried to teach us. When will we finally learn?

The answers are not in a book. They are not on the internet. They are not in your mind, your education or in someone else’s words. The answers are in your heart if you are willing to find them.