What will life on the New Earth be like? The Book of Revelation tells us that after the
Second Coming of Christ, all creation will be redeemed. The lion will no longer take an
interest in lamb stew.
Does this mean people will have to live peacefully with household pests such as rodents
and unruly children?
I started wondering about this when my son said, "Hey Mom, is it possible we have
a mouse in the house?" Of course, it was possible. Those little dust balls with beady
eyes can squeeze into human territories through cracks the diameter of pencils if they're
hungry enough, that is, if they have no excess weight that could get them jammed up
halfway through. We know this is true because no one has ever seen a mouse get stuck
halfway through, its eyes bulging and its tail spinning, with a little mouse friend
pushing on its rear side.
With this knowledge in mind, I immediately began to scheme up what kind of food I
should use in the mouse trap. And then the guilt feelings arose.
Aside from the fact that I didn't want to open a box of Cheerios one morning and find
the mouse grousing at me, asking me to close the box because it prefers to eat without
being watched by giant eyeballs, and aside from the fact that if we didn't get rid of the
mouse, us humans would walk around on the tops of chairs and sofas and banisters -- aside
from all this, I had to admit that those beady eyes and pointy noise were cute.
The mouse was one of God's creations. How could I even think of killing it?
Well, before I could resolve this inner conflict, my husband, Ralph, decided to take
action. He remembered reading in the homeowner's manual that a mouse in the house must be
disposed of. He looked where our son was pointing and moved in closer to investigate. Sure
enough, there was a mouse, sitting under the television stand scouting for food with a
pair of binoculars.
The household burst into a frenzy. As I headed for the closet to find the mouse trap,
the children jumped up and down, causing the mouse to freeze in fear because it thought we
were having an earthquake. And my husband went for the fly swatter.
This really happened.
When I returned to the living room, holding a mouse trap baited with Cracker Jacks, I
found Ralph with his nose to the floor and his eyeballs peering beneath the TV stand, fly
swatter in one hand, rubber mallet in the other and a spray can of WD40 oil nearby.
"What's the fly swatter and mallet for?" I asked.
"If that little monster comes my way," he said without moving, "it's a
goner."
"And why the oil?"
He paused. "To stop the mouse from squeaking."
I groaned. "If you spray my carpet with that oil, it's you that'll be the
goner!"
What a difference the second coming of Christ will make. If we're still around then,
maybe you'll see Ralph peering under the plant stand offering the mouse Cracker Jacks in a
bowl.
But for now, let's just say my family's walking on the floor again.
