The Grapevine 2

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

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. "Thereis 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."

The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but
there's 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
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.

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 Able, his brother, to our
God: "Am I my brother's keeper?"

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.

IF YOU WISH, SEND THIS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER HELPED YOU OUT AND LET THEM KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE. REMEMBER: EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN AN OTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.