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It all started when my Aunt Martha visited her doctor to show him all the little discomforts that had befallen her. But nowadays you can't even count on doctors to listen to your complaints any more. This doctor didn't want to see anything; these maladies were completely irrelevant to him. In his opinion, what was really relevant was how my aunt had acquired all these diseases. According to the doctor, the only thing in need of curing was her mental attitude. Because, when a person's soul is healthy, those little maladies disappear.

It didn't take very long for the "consultation" to arrive at a discussion of the "Source of Life," love. Martha was supposed to love herself, and everyone else as well. Hard to tell which would be more difficult for her. "You just can't love everyone, as impossible as some people are, and, especially the Joneses from next door," she thought.

"Yes, you can! If you were trapped in an elevator with your worst enemy for an entire day, and he told you his entire life story, then you could love even him," according to the doctor.

And then the "peace be with you" epidemic started! Whenever Martha had to deal with someone whom she, at that very moment, heartily disliked, who was getting on her nerves or was seriously upsetting her, she was supposed to think, "Peace be with you!" That was supposed to loosen up tension, smooth aggression, and calm anger, and she would get healthier by the day.

The next opportunity for trying out this new "treatment" presented itself at the seafood corner in the supermarket: "Shrimp, please. No, no (peace be with you) those are prawns. (peace be with you.) No, those aren't (peace be with you) shrimp, either. Look, over there, the small ones (peace be with you)."

Finally the lady behind the counter found the right ones. A small scoop of shrimp made its way into the container and onto the scale. ("Ridiculously minuscule quantity, but I won't say anything any more. Peace be with you!"). Weighing and attaching the price label to the container -- a look to the right, then to the left -- the lid comes off again and the container gets filled to the top. Then the lady said with a cunning smile: "I added a little more for you." Martha was shocked. The lady couldn't have possibly noticed something, could she? But this can't really be happening!

The new "treatment" was put to the test again over the next few days, and it turned out that apparently everything is possible!

Soon after the supermarket incident, Martha's ten-year-old daughter returned home from school, wailing, "Kevin is always teasing me." Having adopted this new perspective on life, Martha immediately thought of the "peace be with you" treatment for her daughter's problem. The best thing for her daughter was for her to not get worked up and upset with Kevin, and not to feel offended. So Martha explained the "peace be with you" treatment to her daughter.

Three days later: "Well, Mom, I have told Kevin, 'Peace be with you,' now a million times, but he is still such an idiot." Hmm, difficult. Maybe for some people it takes a little longer.

Not too long afterwards: "Well, Mom, you know what? Now I have told Kevin that he is an idiot and that I always think, 'Peace be with you' when he is an idiot. And now he tells Peter, 'Peace be with you,' because he thinks that Peter is such an idiot; and Lori tells Tom, 'Peace be with you' . . . !"

One should never underestimate the concepts children can grasp. Valentine knew perfectly well what her mother Martha was talking about. Another example out of the mouths of babes: "It is really a bummer that Grandma always thinks so negatively. She always expects the worst and then doesn't want to see anything else. We really should tell her that, don't you think?"

When we are talking "pure life," there are no differences between age groups or professions. On that level, one soul simply interacts with another and there is a level of deep understanding between them.

Anyone can test the apparently coincidental similarities in experiences in the two stories for themselves. A few "Peace be with you"s down the line and you probably will have figured out for yourself how your thoughts are affecting you.

PEACE BE WITH YOU!

This article is excerpted from:

The Cosmic Ordering Service
by Barbel Mohr.

Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Hampton Roads. ©2001. http://www.hrpub.com

Info/Order this book.

About the Author

Barbel Mohr was born in Bonn, Germany. She has worked as a photographer, editor, magazine designer, video producer, and author, gives "How to Have More Fun in Your Daily Life" workshops, and publishes her own German online-magazine. From 1998 to 2001, she published four German self-help books -- including the best-selling Bestellungen beim Universum, translated into several languages and a German audio edition -- which combined have more than half a million copies in print. The author maintains a website, and the homepage, translated into English, can be accessed at www.baerbelmohr.de

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