TUESDAY, AUGUST 10. 2021 AESOP FABLES - PART II

 TUESDAY AUGUST 10, 2021 SOMETHING DIFFERENT PART II

This week I'm looking at some of the Aesop fables. Enjoy!!!

THE MOUSE AND THE LION:

A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap -, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and someday I will surely repay you."

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."

*****

This is a favorite of mine.  Generosity is repaid.  LOVE WINS!!

There are many times somebody helps me, and maybe I don’t get to help them back directly (and sometimes I do help them) but the concept of “pay it forward” means that we can do a good deed for others.  I have been taking my friend to her doctor appointments (she no longer drives).  She makes small plastic floral arrangements and gives a few to me, and I pass them on to others.  

Yes, LOVE WINS - being nice is the right way to go!!!

*****

THE WOLF AND THE CRANE

A Wolf had been feasting too greedily, and a bone had stuck crosswise in his throat. He could get it neither up nor down, and of course, he could not eat a thing. Naturally, that was an awful state of affairs for a greedy Wolf.

So away he hurried to the Crane. He was sure that she, with her long neck and bill, would easily be able to reach the bone and pull it out.

"I will reward you very handsomely," said the Wolf, "if you pull that bone out for me."

The Crane, as you can imagine, was very uneasy about putting her head in a Wolf's throat. But she was grasping in nature, so she did what the Wolf asked her to do.

When the Wolf felt that the bone was gone, he started to walk away.

"But what about my reward!" called the Crane anxiously.

"What!" snarled the Wolf, whirling around. "Haven't you got it? Isn't it enough that I let you take your head out of my mouth without snapping it off?"

Aesop’s moral: Expect no reward for serving the wicked.

*****

And, Aesop is right!!  Don’t expect any reward for serving the wicked.  

(But, now Pollyanna Karen has to add) - Even if you don’t expect and don’t get a reward for serving the wicked - you do it anyway.

From Matthew 5:44-48:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

I don’t want to love my enemies - that is why they are my enemies - because they hate me.  For several years here, I’ve preached (that sounds too harsh) - I’ve encouraged us to practice LOVE.  Let LOVE WIN.  In the first story, the lion could have been an enemy to the mouse, but the lion showed love by not eating the mouse.  (A mouse would not have been much of a meal for a lion anyway).  Love everybody - your family and friends - and your enemies.  

Proverbs 25:21-22 adds an extra caveat “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

WOW - if I give food and water to an enemy, I’m really putting burning coals on his head???  I’m doing an act of love and God puts a “guilt trip” on my enemy!!  (Hmmm … guilt trips sound like an idea for future blogs!!!)

*****

So, today, Aesop is telling us to be kind - do good deeds for others - even if they don’t appreciate it!!  

That is really a “LOVE WINS” idea!!

Karen