Once upon a time, in a little corner of the world, there lived three mice.  Sally, Sandy, and Sarah mice.  Oh hold on to your whiskers…. for these three loved cheese.  They loved cheese sooooo much they could barely stand it.

But.  Each one had a favorite kind of fromage.   Sally liked Edam…. because she thought it was fun to say Eat ’em, when she ate it.  Now,  Sandy found that Muenster was her favorite….. .because she liked to hum the theme to the Munster’s when she munched it down.   And Sarah liked Swiss… because she was a good yodeler.

Now… these three mice lived in the same house… oh yes they did.  And they could not agree upon a favorite.  In fact… they argued day and night over which cheese was the superior kind.  Edam. Muenster.  Swiss.  Edam. Muenster.  Swiss.  Over ad over again…

At dinner time… they could scarcely enjoy their cheeses… because they were too busy quarreling to even taste their delights.  Night after night this went on.  Day after day.  Bicker. Bicker. Bicker.  Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

Then… one day… while they were away from the mouse hole…. at the mall… buying new outfits…  … someone came in and stole all the cheese.  Gone.  All of it.  Not even a nibble.

When they returned, they discovered the cheese was missing.  Even the baby cheeses. were gone.  This made them very sad.

That night, at dinner, they ate a slice of tomato and a large biscuit crumb.
But.  There was no arguing. Instead… there was  laughter… and musing.. and fun.  They enjoyed the tomato and the really big biscuit crumb.  Together.

And that is how it goes… sometimes.  Little mice have a way of focusing on their little differences.  But in fact… the things they argued about… those differences….  were all very much alike.  IT was cheese… after all.

Yet when that cheese was gone… when those differences disappeared… they found in fact… they TRULY liked one another.  And could share good things with one another.  Happily.

And sometimes… my friends… that is what happens in people’s lives too.  In government, in relationships… in communities.

Love the cheese.  Share the cheese.  Appreciate the differences.

“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.”  –  Friedrich Nietzsche