The Donkeys

A man had two donkeys and wondered which one to put the lighter
weighing cotton on and which one to put the heavier weighing sugar on.
He decided to let the donkeys choose.  

The one donkey went over to the bag of cotton and nudged  it with his
nose, then he went over to the bag of sugar and nudges it. Then the
donkey went back to the bag of cotton and nudged it with his nose again.

The man reasoned that the donkey chose the bag of cotton and puts it on
the donkey. He then put the bag of sugar on the other donkey, and they
got on their way.  As they went along, the donkey with the sugar
struggled under its load.  

On the other hand, the donkey with the cotton was having little trouble
at all. Finally they came to the river, and look, the bridge was out!
The only way to get to the other side was to swim. What do you think
happened?

He felt as if his load was getting lighter! As he swam the
sugar began to dissolve, and the farther he swam, the lighter his load became.
Finally he reached the other side, wet, but only slightly worn from the
experience.

What about the donkey with the bag of cotton? As he swam
along, he felt his load was getting heavier and heavier. Well, as he
swam the cotton began to absorb the water. The more he swam, the heavier
the bag of cotton became. Exhausted and now overburdened, he sank
beneath the water, never to be seen again.

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The Truth Will Set U Free

The Truth Will Set You Free

Jer 18:18-20 / Mt 20:17-28

When people get really angry about something, they are almost always revealing something about themselves and about their needs, and quite often they neither know nor intend to reveal it! And so it is with today's Old Testament reading. The prophet Jeremiah was not just another eccentric outsider. He was the ultimate insider in the government of the kingdom of Judah. He was a nobleman and a leader in the government, and he had been telling the truth to his colleagues and to the people for a long time.

But they just didn't want to hear the truth, because it called for a painful re-thinking of their country's destiny and of their own personal careers. Those in power were not about to give up their privileged status so easily, so in their fury they threw Jeremiah in prison to shut him up. But the truth that Jeremiah had spoken couldn't be silenced, and the nation collapsed as he had predicted.

Many things can move us to ignore or deny the truth, but fear and ego are the prime culprits. We can never grow whole, we can never grow into our best selves, until we face the truth and embrace the whole of it, whatever it may be. But there's no way that we can face the truth alone -- ego and fear are too powerful. Fortunately for us, we don't have to face it alone. The Lord will walk us through the fire and out the other side, step by step.

Trust that and you'll know what they mean when they say, The truth will set you free.

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The Mouse Trap

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.

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