The least of them all

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall

to see the farmer's 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 this 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
-- 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.
It was a venomous snake
whose tail was caught in the trap.
The snake bit the farmer's wife.*
The farmer rushed her to the hospital.
When she returned home she still had 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.
Friends and neighbors
came to sit with her
around the clock.
To feed them,
the farmer butchered the pig.

But, alas,
the farmer's wife did not get well...
she died.*
So many people came for her funeral
that the farmer had the cow slaughtered
to provide enough meat for all of them
for the funeral luncheon.

And 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 you 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.

You may want to send this
to everyone who has ever
helped you out....
and let them know
how important they are to you, if they really are.

-Remember-
Each of us is a vital thread
in another person's tapestry.
Our lives are woven together
for a reason.*



One of the best things to hold onto
In this world is a FRIEND.

so true.

but but... the pig prayed..
That was doing more than the others. He should have been spared, no?

Lol I suppose you have a point there but you know that is why it is important for all of us to pray for each other even when it does not directly affect us. Maybe the pig just wanted to be different and act like he was praying so the mouse would not be so down. I dont know Rad my gosh man how do you see so many points in a sentence....for the love of God man its a parable ok. lol Maybe the pig perished because there was some of God's people at the luncheon that really liked bar-be-Que. YUM!! lol

whoa man that was deep but funny and true but also very deep

amen pun

I dont mean this in a racial way...Jewish ppl and muslims dont eat pork...its unclean...so we can rule those faiths out. Buddhists and Hindu dont eat cow b/c they think they are Gods...Interesting fact. Buddha didnt want to be a God but rather create a way of life. He was skinny due to his fasting.

Yeah I guess its talking about Baptist animals hehehehehehe lol.

lol

I heard this story long ago and basically the main point like Pun said is to stick together whether it be to help family or friends, and now its also making me want bacon and eggs. time for breakfast

I am about to get some of that breakfast

lolz!

Radish* wrote:but but... the pig prayed..
That was doing more than the others. He should have been spared, no?

The pig should be pleased because he gave his life for the cause.

This story reminds me of the parable of the good Sarmaritan:

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

The religious men passed by the injured man even going to such lengths as crossing the street so as not to become impure. We can look at the pig in Pun's story as being the religious. Instead of doing what God has commanded the pig didn't want to be bothered by the mouse's problems so he said he will pray for him instead of doing something. This is not acceptable to God. He says, we are to be doers of the law and not just hearers. We are told that true religion is to care for windows and orphans. James 2:14, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

The hypocrisy of those who see someone in need and just sit back and pray or give money to an organization so that don't have to be bothered is disgusting to God. The pig is like the goats in this other story told by Jesus.

Matt. 25:31, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Sweet Stuff Kennison, scripture is so true and so precious to my heart to read. I just want to know more and more about this wonderful God who has given it to us so that we may treasure him and and treasure him in the way we live. May I violently destroy the deep selfishness within me by the power of God through the gospel that looks to my own self rather than others in sacrificial love for their eternal good. (Romans 8:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5; John 13:34-35)

There is many times where I think to my own interests/concerns compared to the rest of other people around whom God desires for me to labor for. He has called me and all Christians to labor for those who do not intimately know Christ, and many times I look to my own comfort rather their eternal souls. In sight of this sin and failure, I know the only hope to combat such thought process is to think much of the gospel, much of the wrath which Christ bore for my evils, and see God far more wonderful and glorious than me.

Thank you for the challenging and encouraging scripture in which I so long to live for my precious savior who has purchased my soul with his blood.

Oh just to prove a poit about Hindus religion on not eating cows i'll tell you why. Cows arnt the god but Gods live inside the cow. Since the cow has eight stomachs there are eight gods inside the stomach.

Well...dont eat the stomachs

the stomachs cannot function without the rest of the body.

well trooper it is considered un-holy to eat cows at all so yeah...