If I should die before I wake….

If I should die before I wake…  this is what I would like you to remember.  For ten or more years I have thought about this….what I would like to leave for my children and grandchildren and friends….Notes and thoughts that I have collected through the years. My reflections will lean toward what I have gathered since I was a child.  As a 3 or 4 years old, I learned “be ye kind, one to another”, “treat others as you want them to treat you”.  (condensed Bible verses).  If only we would all heed these instructions!

You see, I believe that the Bible is a manual for humans to know how we should best function.  God was our creator.  All creators or manufacturers give us a manual.  In that manner we can know how to properly keep that item functioning.  So our Creator gave us a manual.  Some think that the suggestions were created to hold a hammer over our head and keep us from “having fun”.   Some think they are punitive!  As I progress leaving my contemplation with you, I will explain some.   i.e. forgiveness.  This is a great one, we will consider what the lack of forgiveness does to a person.  But later.

For this to resonate with someone (you), there has to be a belief that there is a Supreme Being known as God, Heavenly Father, Creator and many other Omnipotent monikers.  If you don’t, maybe we can explore that together.  As I am not a great theologian, I have learned and can read, explore, research and maybe put them into simple terms for you to ponder.

So today, I leave you with one of my little tidbits (origin unknown).  Will be back another day.

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.  “What food this might 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 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 cow said, “Wow! Mr. Mouse, I’m sorry for you, but it is 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 it’s 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, she still had a fever.  Everyone knows that 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 recover and unfortunately passed away.  So many people came for the funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for the funeral luncheon.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

The next time you hear someone is facing a problem and you think it doesn’t concern you…remember!