"The Parable of the Mouse" was submitted by a reader in response to the discussion about what non-West Virginia brethren should do regarding the problems within West Virginia Freemasonry.A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.
"What food might this contain?" the mouse wondered, but he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said: "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! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said: "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said: "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The cow said: "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That night a sound was heard throughout the house — the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught, but in the darkness, she didn't 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, and she returned home with a fever. 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.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
Unfortunately, the farmer's wife did not get well; she died.
So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember — when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
— Anonymous
Masons | Parables | West Virginia Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of West Virginia | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com
How is this for an alternate ending:
ReplyDeleteUpon discovering the mouse trap, the mouse went outside to warn the others. As he looked around at the other animals, peaceful in their environment, he came to the realization that he cow, pig and chicken could never get inside. They held no power in the house, thus, they could not change the situation even if they tried.
Now, fully aware that the threat could not be wished away or allayed by the intervention of the other animals on the farm, the mouse collected as many twigs as he could carry and stored them inside of the house. Every night, when the farmer and his wife retired, the mouse, taking responsibility for a problem that only he could change, used the twigs to trip the mousetrap.
So, take responsibility for the dangers in your home, for more often than not, only you have the ability to alleviate them.
Sweet...
ReplyDeleteproblem with warm and fuzzies is they do not address the real and substantive in other than an allegorical manner.
IVX, I LOVE your answer. Its exactly what I have been writing all along. Take responsibility for your own mess and dangers, and more often than not, you won't need someone to come in and "fix" it for you.
KUDOS!!!
My concern is not that it's someone else's business, but to see if anyone knows what someone outside of this imediate situation can do, or how to do it.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know?
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ReplyDeleteHave you ever had one of the moments when you are talking to someone about some issue and suddenly you realize you are uttering the answer to a problem that has been vexing you? I had one of those moments with my wife five years ago, in answering her question about a few brothers and their actions regarding Freemasonry when I said: It's not about me changing them, it's about me changing me.
ReplyDeleteWell, yesterday, another one of those moments occurred during an email answer to a brother in Iraq regarding his issue with the Grand Lodge of Kentucky and a Prince Hall Lodge.
more: http://beaconofmasoniclight.blogspot.com/2008/04/
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This is excellent -
ReplyDeleteThis is excellent -
ReplyDelete