An Anglican Compendium of Thoughts and Prayers: Parable of The Mouse Trap

Whilst it’s an old parable, considering all the turmoil our world is facing today - division within the Anglican Church, the workplace, a community, or even the family home - the story offers a wonderful perspective on living.

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 wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. ’There’s a mousetrap in the house! There’s 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.’ The pig sympathised, 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. She 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 couldn’t 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 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. Arrivederci chicken!

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. Arrivederci Pig!

The farmer's wife never got well: she died. So many people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. Arrivederci Cow!

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.

In the book of Genesis, Cain said this about Abel his brother, to our God: ‘Am I my brother's keeper?’

We are all involved in this journey called life. Keeping an eye out for one another and actually making the effort to be involved is what gives God pleasure. The investment may take time and resources, but the rewards are priceless!

Lord God, Help us to see all that is in our world, to see that an individual’s need is not just their need alone. Help us to force open the doors of our churches, and the hearts and minds of the people within, so that our celebrations draw others in and not keep people out. Let us bring light to those who live in darkness. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen