I would like to start this article with a short story, a fable about a farm:
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. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. REMEMBER: EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON. One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a friend.
I couldn't agree more with the observation that we are all interconnected. God designed man to be a social creature and relationships are very vital to our existence. Sadly, many people have forgotten that and this most important thing of our life has been sacrificed in the altar of selfishness and materialism.
Our outreach last Feb 14 aimed to re-establish this connecttion. Because it is only in touching someone's life that we are also touched by them. One parent in our forum gave a testimony to this fact. And indeed, unless and until our cares get out of the confine of our own need and our emotions get to transcend the limits of our own personal concerns, we would never really experience the fullness of life. Because it is only by touching others and being touched by them in return that we are transformed. When this sublime encounter has done its job, we no longer remain a chicken that's happy and contented in our own coop, nor a pig that's peacefully full in our own sty. We become an inhabitant of the farm and everyone in it is our friend, even the lowly mouse. And because they are our friend, we share ourselves, our time, our effort, our substance. Then and only then that we realize the full import of the biblical principle that it is better to give than to receive. But in case you are still wondering why, let Christ's words which ring true and eternal enlighten us: "I tell you with certainty, since you did it for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me" (Mat 25:40).
We thank the Lord for all the parents who gave their best to make this outreach a day to remember, and in the day of hearts too. Your giving has not made you poorer but only richer, spiritually and in the Lord.
God bless you all!
One of the desired goals of Eastbridge School is to instill the idea on the parents that the education of their kids are not the sole responsibility of the school. Being in the academe for twenty years now, the administrators of the school deem that this is a necessary element for a successful learning experience especially in the preschool level. For what is education if not the preparation for life? A person who is trained to only prepare for work in adulthood has only prepared for half of what life is all about. Others may even argue that most of life is interaction with other people. For isn't work even also mostly comprised of this? Thus, it is of the utmost importance that the training that the kids get in a learning institution must touch on this major element.
