A Spider and a Mouse

So I got an email today that opened my eyes to some things and I had to have a little chat with my sweet daughter this evening. It was a fun father/daughter discussion and part of it included a chat about Joseph who ran from Potiphar's wife, who ran from anything that would destroy him. Because we had our little chat privately I didn't plan on reviewing more of this in FHE but happened to hit it anyway.

For FHE I pulled a book off the shelf called Unto the Least of These by Jack Christianson. Some of you faithful readers may recall that I wrote about Jack a few weeks back. I was ill prepared on a lesson and knew I could pop open this book and pick out a story or two that the kids would enjoy and that would teach a powerful lesson. Well, we read four. The one that relates to the topic was the second one that we read and deals with the topic of tolerance without compromise.

Jack tells the story of a spider that is in bed with he and his wife. It wakes his wife, he gets a little frustrated by the loss of sleep, shows her there is not a spider and they go back to bed. A few minutes later it is back and he is again frustrated. He shows her again that there is no spider, grabs his pillow and there it is. He talks of jumping into the corner of the room and yelling "kill it, kill it" at which point his wife laughs and gives him a hard time. Jack was a macho football player but wanted nothing to do with this spider.

The mouse story he tells is of a dirty kitchen that he is cleaning a few weeks after the spider situation. His wife and daughters had been out of town and he had been lax on cleaning. The time comes for him to clean and in doing so he sees something big and hairy run behind the cookie jar. He thinks it is the mother of the spider. Anyhow he gets all prepared to kill it, moves the jar and a mouse comes running out on the counter. With nowhere to go it jumps on his shirt and he goes crazy trying to kill it, beating his chest and what not. The mouse ends up under the fridge and he catches it later with a trap. That is the sweetened condensed version.

The next day he was driving to pick up his family and is pondering the matter and trying to figure out why he, this big strong football player, was so afraid of spiders and mice. He was trying to find a spiritual parallel. He does and this is what he shares:

What if all of us feared evil as much as we fear spiders or mice? If we were as fearful of sin and wickedness as many of us are of these small creatures, we would not only "shake at the appearance of sin" (2 Nephi 4:31) but we would also run! Joseph of Egypt ran from Potiphar's wife because he could not bear the thought of doing a "great wickedness" and sinning "against God" (see Genesis 39:9). What an example for us to follow! Joseph not only ran from evil but also "he hearkened not unto [Potiphar's wife], to lie by her, or to be with her" (Genesis 39:10). He took no chances. He wouldn't even go near the wickedness.

Some of us, as mentioned earlier, wouldn't get near a "jumping" spider. And the thought of a snake, rat, or mouse disgusts us. But what happens when someone suggests we watch an R-rated or X-rated video? What happens when alcohol, drugs, or spiritually degrading music are part of a party? Do we run, as Joseph did? Do we flee and get ourselves out (see Genesis 39:12) when an opportunity for immorality or dishonesty arises? Running from sin can literally be a life-saving measure. We should try to remember the stirring words of Elder Glenn L. Pace: "You will remain much safer and infinitely happier if yo will place your energy into current obedience rather than saving it for future repentance" (Ensign, November 1992, p. 12). Jack R. Christianson, Unto the Least of These, pages 71-72.

I have no idea if I referenced that right but I am sure it will suffice. So anyway, I read this story that was rather memorable because of the humorous way in which he tells it and then I continued on with the lesson he learned. I had a daughter who was listening intently and I couldn't help but think that sometimes we are given in the very hour exactly what we need. I remembered the stories about the spider and the mouse and thought the kids would enjoy them - they did and I had to read a couple parts twice so they could laugh at it all again. I had forgotten that the gospel parallel was Joseph running from that which would destroy him and, anyway, small gift to a dad that needed a little back up tonight.

I went on to cry through the next two stories I shared. What can you do?