The mouse scurried silently along the skirting board, undetected and unnoticed by anyone, including the fierce tabby tomcat that was sleeping on the sofa. The mouse’s family had lived in the house for many generations and, for the most part, had lived undisturbed. The mice were able to exist in the house because nobody knew they were there.

The mice knew that they had to be wary. They knew that a cat would take great delight in capturing any of them that it saw and tormenting them before finally extinguishing their tiny mouse life. It would then present the dead body to the humans. The humans though it was a sacrificial offering to show loyalty but in fact it was a warning that they could be next if they failed to provide for the cat!

Cats were bigger than mice, more powerful, had stronger jaws and sharper claws. They were terrifying and a constant threat.

But mice were small, nimble and could squeeze through impossibly small gaps. They existed in the spaces where the humans and cats never went. Occasionally, like today, they ventured swiftly into the human/cat space in order to forage for food or bedding. It was necessary but dangerous. The humans never really noticed that the mice had been there, although they did wonder about how the small holes appeared in blankets or how a box of biscuits had split and there seemed to be fewer biscuits in there than the humans remembered.

Cats had a strong suspicion that there were mice in the house. They often saw tiny shadows flitting in the corners of rooms but by the time they arrived there was nothing there. The areas where the mice lived smelt different to the cats and they kept a wary eye out for the little vermin.

But the little vermin knew that they would not be welcome in the realm of the humans and cats. They knew that the cats and humans would not understand that they believed they had a right to live peacefully. Of course the cats and humans didn’t really know why they didn’t like mice and would not accept them in their realm, they just instinctively knew that it was wrong.

And the mice continued to live in the walls and shadows.

Some reflections

In this parble the cats are the dominant big ideas in life. The ones that have been accepted for many years and remain unchallenged because they are so big and powerful.

Mice are radical, different ideas. How could they challenge the power of the big idea?

Why can’t the cats allow the mice to live in peace? Why do they have to try to extinguish them if they see them?

What would happen if the mice all appeared at once to try to change things?

Could the humans do anything to change the status quo? Would they want to?

What are the big, dominant ideas?

*yes, I know it’s ‘parable’ but as I have created other words on this blog (eg bloggage) I thought I could create another one – parble is a story with a message but which is not as powerful as the ones Jesus told.