An Emperor's Embrace

An emperor won several wars and conquered the neighbouring nations one by one, expanding his empire after every war. He had a baby boy, who was the heir to his throne. The emperor wanted his son to grow up as a fearless fighter and win wars to extend the borders of his empire further. He tried to instil into the infant the spirit of a valiant warrior.

Immediately after a successful war, he carried his only son along with him on his horse to the battlefield. He hoped to familiarize and intoxicate the child with the smell of fresh blood that filled the field. They could see the bodies of hundreds of soldiers lying dead or dying from serious wounds all around the battlefield. As he sped his horse victoriously, a dying soldier of the defeated country used all his remaining strength to shoot an arrow at the emperor. The unexpected arrow pierced the prince's heart and killed him on the spot. The emperor embraced his only son and cried aloud in agony.

Sir Winston Churchill once remarked, "In war, it does not matter who is right (ie. correct), but who is left (ie. not killed)!" In the war of 1861, a supporter told Abraham Lincoln that he hoped the Lord would be on their side. Lincoln replied, " I am not at all concerned about that; but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this Nation should be on the Lord's side."

When the armed men approached Jesus to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, St. Peter, the Chief of His Disciples drew his sword and struck at one of them, cutting off his ear. Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back in its place. All who take the sword will die by the sword" {Matthew 26: 52}.

© By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India. For more moral stories, parables and anecdotes for students, catechists, teachers and preachers, kindly visit my web-site: http://www.moralstorieschristian.blogspot.com