The Snake and the Mouse
My mother spent a lot of time with my two young nephews this summer - something that both of my parents do every year. Before she returned home, she told me a most amazing story.
My nephews decided that they wanted a snake as a pet, so they got one.
It turns out the snake needed to be fed a live mouse every week.
One week, the snake had a mouse placed in its cage that it did not eat. The days went by, and still the mouse remained in the cage. Over a period of about three weeks, the snake and mouse seemed to hang out together. They slept together, and literally seemed to have become friends!
Eventually, the snake was released into the yard because it would die if it did not eat. Since my sister and her husband own ten acres out in the country, this did not seem to be an issue. Once released, the snake took off and made himself at home in the broad expanse of tall grasses and trees in the back yard, and has not been seen since.
The mouse - on the other hand - remains in the cage, and is now a pet.
What a wonderful story filled with so many lessons! I reflected on how the that sense of oneness that so many traditions speak of attaining was so beautifully illustrated and exemplified in the example of such very different creatures!
My nephews decided that they wanted a snake as a pet, so they got one.
It turns out the snake needed to be fed a live mouse every week.
One week, the snake had a mouse placed in its cage that it did not eat. The days went by, and still the mouse remained in the cage. Over a period of about three weeks, the snake and mouse seemed to hang out together. They slept together, and literally seemed to have become friends!
Eventually, the snake was released into the yard because it would die if it did not eat. Since my sister and her husband own ten acres out in the country, this did not seem to be an issue. Once released, the snake took off and made himself at home in the broad expanse of tall grasses and trees in the back yard, and has not been seen since.
The mouse - on the other hand - remains in the cage, and is now a pet.
What a wonderful story filled with so many lessons! I reflected on how the that sense of oneness that so many traditions speak of attaining was so beautifully illustrated and exemplified in the example of such very different creatures!
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