Somebody Has To Care!

There comes a time in our lives, when we have to look at things a little differently, remove the focus of self, and step back and look at the bigger picture. The picture that encompasses more than ourselves, call it the "Collective", the World, the Big Picture... No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...John Donne It is frustrating when people that I truly care about tell me, "Oh I’m not concerned, it’s not my problem." "I’ve enough to worry about if I worry about my own problems." Don’t get me wrong, I can relate to that to a certain extent, but there comes a time, when we have to realize that every man and woman is a star that comprises the entire universe. For me to say that I’m not concerned about the state of the world, knowing that I have not only children but grandchildren who will carry on after I leave this space in time, and possibly face a much worse world than we are now living in, is of utmost concern to me. Perhaps, you would have to be a parent who loves and wants the best for their children to understand. That does not mean that one should throw caution to the wind, losing all cares of tomorrow and strike out on a mission to save the world, but it does mean that one should be “Aware” of the suffering of others, as it will often make our own plight less harder to bear. Here’s The Story! Mickey Mouse was peeking through a small hole in the wall and noticed Farmer Bob and his wife, Ethel opening a package that just arrived from Fed Ex. Mickey was excited about all of the goodies it might contain, and his mouth began to water, when suddenly the farmer pulled out a mousetrap! Mickey’s little beady eyes, nearly bulged out of their sockets, and he felt that the time was right for him to leave, so he departed, making a mad dash toward the barnyard, with a deep sense of urgency, alerting all of his friends “GOTTA MOUSETRAP IN THE HOUSE, GOTTA MOUSETRAP IN THE HOUSE!” Coquita, the Chicken, clucked and scratched, bobbing her head around, like she was listening to some soulful R&B, then slowly raising up she looked at Mickey, batting her eyelashes, and said to Mickey, “I can tell this is a serious concern to you Mickey, but it is of no concern to me; I can’t be bothered with it, I have other priorities that are much more important to me. I have to look out after “Coquita”, it’s not my problem.” Mickey, feeling very disgusted with her bitchy attitude, turned and Porky Pig was munching out in his trough, and stopped slurping, long enough to say, “Hi Mickey”! Mickey replied to Porky Pig, “Gotta mousetrap in the house”! “I-i-i-i’m s-s-s-so so-so-so-rry M-m-m-m-mickey, Porky said sympathetically, “budip budip budip but all I c-c-c-c-can d-d-d-do is pray, j-j-j-just kn-n-n-n-now that you are in my p-p-p-prayers”. Mickey thanked Porky the Pig and turned to Clarissa the Cow, who sarcastically replied “Yikes, Mickey, A mousetrap in the house?” Oh Lordy, that’s so bad. That means I am in grave danger, Duh?” So Mickey, with his head down, feeling dejected, saddened, like he had no friends in his barnyard world that gave a damn, returned to the house to face his worst fears alone, the Mousetrap! Later that night, after everyone had turned in, and everything was quiet…suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of the new mousetrap catching its prey. Ethel, the farmer’s wife, hurriedly scuttled to see what had been caught in the new mousetrap. It was pitch dark and little did she know that a venomous snake, Charlie the Copperhead, had caught its tail in the trap, and because of the darkness, when she reached down to check it out, old Charlie bit the crap out of her. Farmer Bob put Ethel in his pickup truck and rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a Fever and Bob asked her if she needed anything as he put her to bed. She asked him to get her some “Chicken Soup”, because it’s the tried and true remedy for fever. So off goes Farmer Bob to the barnyard with his hatchet in hand for the key ingredient, Coquita the Chicken! It turns out that sassy Coquita has encountered a major problem she didn’t anticipate! Nonetheless, Ethel’s condition continued to worsen and a stream of nearby neighbors and friends visited and sat with her all throughout the day and evening. As they were sitting around talking, someone mentioned that they had a hankering for some good old barbecue, so Uncle Bob, got up, put his hat on, and went out to butcher Porky the Pig, while several of the men readied the pit, a few of the women folks, went to the kitchen to prepare, fried potatoes, slaw, baked beans, hushpuppies, and peach cobbler. A few days later, Ethel’s condition finally reached a sorrowful climax; she passed on to the Promised Land. Talk about a wake, so many visitors came to pay their respects that Farmer Bob had Clarissa the Cow slaughtered to feed them all. Sucks to be Clarissa, Duh? So, the moral of this story is, the next time you hear that someone is facing hard-times, or has a “problem”, don’t think that it doesn’t concern you because what it all boils down to is when the least of us are threatened, we’re all at risk. In the book of Matthew, in chapter 25:31-55, A condensed version basically says that on the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand, "Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Then Jesus will turn to those on His left hand and say, "Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me." These will ask Him, "When did we see you hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to your help?" And Jesus will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto me!"