# The Mouse Trap

- Link: https://dismasfellowshipnetwork.com/reflections/the-mouse-trap/
- Published: 2021-02-11T12:09:54-04:00
- Author: Paul Tuck

AUTHOR: Unknown

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. 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 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 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. 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. 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. Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s
tapestry.

Most of our lives may have been fairly self-centered, mainly looking out for ourselves
and what’s best for us. But I think with all the turmoil around us these days, we
are realizing how interconnected we all are.

**Reflection Question:**  _Can you recall a time when you helped someone overcome
a problem?  OR Can you recall when others helped you in a time of need?_