Wednesday, October 22, 2008

reciprocity

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain? 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!"

The hen clucked, 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 and I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "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 then turned to the cow who 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 on her bare toe.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital, but she returned home with a burning 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 all, in thanks for their sympathy, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; and died an agonizing death. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered, to provide enough meat for them all.


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.
Remember, too: each of us is a vital thread in another person's tapestry... and our lives are woven together for a reason.
Fighting against evil, blow for blow, we lose... because thus, we ourselves get entangled in hatred and passion.
The best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good.
The only thing wrong with the game of life is, we are forced to keep playing... until we lose.

"Greed is fear in action."


I found this at a blog I'd never visited before called paws and reflect .

16 comments:

  1. Hello
    Thank you for your visit and comment.

    *ROFL* that picture nearly let me full of my cheer...And I have the man here now laying out poison for the damn little thing...*LOL

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  2. I think the old Norse mythology covers it best. Sure, we're gonna lose, but fight on, nonetheless.

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  3. Great Story! I'm going home and getting rid of my mousetraps immediately....... before they trap my snake!! ;)

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  4. That is a great story. And so true. We're all connected. I cannot wrap my head around people who don't see this.

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  5. fancy - Actual mousies I'm glad to be without. Good luck :-)

    randal - Goddamn Electoral College!

    okjimm - Good idea ;-)

    dcup - It's a fault in the programming.

    cdp - Yeah, nice analogy.

    avshar - Cool

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  6. Love that story. Boundaries, borders and "it's not my problem" is an illusion that is usually learned the hard way.

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  7. lbr - 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.' a favorite quote by Einstein that seems appropriate

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  8. I think it’s indeed important to be mindfall of our actions within in our own little village. But it's also possible for those actions to spill over onto to the global village.

    Countries engaged on subsidising agriculture give protection and advantage to producers at home(taxpayer funded) at the expense of poorer developing countries who face ruin and starvation from devalued exports prices.
    Best wishes

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  9. randal - Ain't it the truth?

    lindsay - Thanks for another thoughtful comment. Unfortunately, IMF and World Bank rules forced developing countries to grow and sell commodities like coffee, cut flowers, sugar etc. to sell to the international markets rather than use their land more wisely in the production of food for local consumption. It's a serious problem that's led to deforestation, pollution and starvation in those countries and hasn't brought about a fair distribution of necessities to the world at large.

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  10. we truly are our brothers' keepers, even if indirectly. and nothing we do (or neglect to do) has no effect on others. i love your ability to see the importance of the little details of life, and at the same time have an eye on the big issues.

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  11. gfid - It's mutual, my friend.

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  12. nice..I like that one! I sometimes feel that way when I see people begging on the side of the street by the stop light and I think, some people are real hobos and some people are not you can sometimes tell.. and then I feel bad as I never have cash on hand (I'm 'miss debit card) and forget to have a little sack lunch or something to give away..it does bother me seeing people so down on their luck..

    Ingrid
    btw..awesome paintings my dear artiste extraordinaire!!

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  13. ingrid - I think too that some people have the hobo thing down and others are adrift. It's always safer to send some support to a shelter where they know what they're doing.

    Glad you like the paintings. This is the biggest audience some of them have ever had :-)

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