THE
MOUSETRAP
A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his
wife opening a package. What food might it contain? He was aghast to
discover that it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard the mouse
proclaimed the warning: "There's a mousetrap in the house, a mousetrap
in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Excuse
me, Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is
of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse
turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house,
a mousetrap in the house!"
"I am so sorry Mr. Mouse," sympathized the pig, "but
there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are
in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow. She said,"Like wow, Mr. Mouse. A mousetrap.
Like I'm in grave danger. Duh - NOT!" So, the mouse returned to
the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night, a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound
of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what
was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake
whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The
farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever.
Now, everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the
farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
His wife's sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to
sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the
pig. The farmer's wife did not get well and a few days later she passed
sway. So many people came to her funeral that the farmer had the cow
slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.
So, the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think
that it does not concern you, remember that when there is a mousetrap
in the house, the whole farmyard is at risk. We are all part of one
body and when one part is weak or sick, we need to pay attention and
pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. What affects one of us
affects us all. |
