“Tell me the weight of a snowflake,” a coalmouse asked a wild dove.
“Nothing more than nothing,” the dove answered.
“In that case I must tell you a marvelous story,” the coalmouse said. “I sat on a fir branch close to the trunk when it began to snow. Not heavily, not in a raging blizzard. No, just like in a dream, without any violence at all. Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,471,952. When the next snowflake dropped onto the branch–nothing more than nothing — as you say — the branch broke off.”
Having said that, the coalmouse ran away.
The dove, since Noah’s time an authority on peace, thought about the story for a while. Finally, she said to herself, “Perhaps there is only one person’s voice lacking for peace to come to the world.”
I found this beautiful story in Synchronicity by Joseph Jaworski.
Glad to see that you made a post out of this……I read Synchronicity back in the 90’s and composed a “One Voice” presentation that I would give to local clubs and organizations. I still revisit this book regularly….and this story is the best part of the book.
I agree Scott. It’s a great book and a lovely story.
It’s one of those stories that gives me hope, energy and a desire to take action and make things better.
Interesting, my aunt had this very story framed and “author unknown” beneath it. This was in the 80s. ***
This appears in various forms across the web, and is referenced either as “Thus Spoke the Caribou” from “New Fables” by Kurt Kauter, or from “Synchronicity”, by Joseph Jaworsky.