Peace in Action

My friend had a longstanding quarrel with his eldest brother that was largely on account of their basic personalities. My friend is a bohemian and an artist while his brother is an attorney and very conservative. Their temperaments and politics were poles apart and my friend’s lifestyle, well it had been a bone of contention between the two. In any argument they were sure to take the extreme views. While their parents were alive they somehow tolerated each other but barely.
Years later when my friend chose to step out of a loveless marriage and take a woman of his choice they quarrelled. It was a very nasty one. For years they chose to cut each other off. Each brother pretended as though the other didn’t exist. But how long can they keep their differences unattended?
A time came when they decided to confront.
During this meeting in a spirit of amity the elder brother wanted to rationalize his quarrel and and my friend stopped him from raking over the past.
“ We begin new and I accept you as you are.” My friend said. He wiped off from his mind every injury and spite and his brother also did likewise. My friend said that they could build their affection from that point onwards. Peace among brothers was restored.
My friend was sure memory at best was faulty since time glosses over the real and any analysis over their past would have only skirted over the real issues. By bringing light to what was ages past meant putting different emphases over their clash of personalities and it seemed to my friend a vain exercise. Arguing over the origin of their quarrel or its effect would only made their reconciliation worse. By completely burying the past they could build on the present and allow future to make it grow.
Peace has to do with past, present and future.
benny