EDITOR – In these uncertain, Orwellian times, kindly allow me to share the following story.
A mouse looked through a crack in the wall, to see the farmer and his wife open a package.
“What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to find that it was a mousetrap! Fearfully retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! A mousetrap in the house!”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr Mouse, I can tell this is of grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered.”
The mouse turned to the pig and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! A mousetrap in the house!”
The pig sympathised but said, “I am so very sorry Mr Mouse, there is nothing I can do, but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”
The mouse turned to the cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! A mousetrap in the house!” The cow said, “I know it’s tough Mr Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s your problem!”
So, head down and dejected, the mouse returned to the house, to face the mousetrap alone.
That very night a noise 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 that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to hospital and after treatment, returned to the farm. However, she developed a fever.
Now, everyone knows that you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.
But the wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. Many people came to the funeral, so the farmer slaughtered the cow to provide meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall, with great sadness.
So, if you hear someone is facing a problem, be concerned, remember – when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. We need each other. Our lives are woven together for a reason.
JEFF VAN BELKUM
