Yesterday, I hemmed in an assumption that Rat served no useful purpose. As my journal entry subsequently proves, I am wrong again. I did qualify my statement about Rat, saying: “He serves no useful purpose that I can see.” Rocky, the Hen, taught me about “reservation” in an early Copper Chronicles entry. Reservation means qualifying your statements in case you are wrong. Rocky would be pleased!

Rat serves a few purposes so far, I notice. A useful deterrent to entitlement mentality. Yesterday, Rat jumping happily in and out of the hay pile was an unplanned challenge. “How dare life mess with my agenda?” My behavior I recognize is the inevitable conclusion of the “Me” generation. “Why doesn’t Rat realize I am the center of the universe and obey my will?” Suddenly who the interloper is in this scenario is less clear. Rat teaches humility.

Rat cleans up the messy crumbs my hens make. Another advantage. I notice he is not eating directly from the bowl, but rather gleaning around the edges for crumbs. Perhaps the hens taught him some manners, or maybe he heard my Winston Churchill speech and decided to modify his ambitions?

Rat made me laugh out loud, a good remedy for a head suffering increasing pressure. Laughing is like a volcano that erupts and sets your soul free from unrealistic expectations you have about yourself. I definitely need to laugh more.

This realization led me to understand something else. The stationary, the unchanging, the fixed way of going about life which may be ascribed as self-righteousness perhaps, can not be healthy. Hence nature creeps in to tangle with our assumptions. It ferrets out our weaknesses, it removes all our presumptions of entitlement clearly. That is a good thing!

And perhaps a “fixed” hen pen or way of life -without change- rigid, creates security but also breeds unhealthy interlopers. Actual interlopers I mean this time. If nothing changes in the hen pen for example, the rodents may become too comfortable! And invite friends and make more rodents! So, nature has a way of forcing our cooperation for our own good.

Stagnant environments, whether hen pens or minds, allow interlopers to breed and succeed.

Life Lesson for today: Know your interloper, even if it’s you!