It’s a matter of opinion!

One day a farmer was working in his fields when the weather was hot and humid. As he leaned over to pick up some bales of hay that afternoon he felt a burning sensation just under his shoulder blade……immdiately he thought it was an ant bite and rubbed it. Then he felt another two or three stings on top of his shoulder. He slapped his hand over the spot and then felt another sting on his neck! By this time he was geting worried! He pulled his t-shirt over his head turning it inside out………….then he shook it hard……………..instead of an ant, a small white spider dropped to the ground. The farmer tried to stomp it with his foot but the spider got away and scurried under a tree limb.

All of the spots where the spider bit the farmer itched and burned and really gave him a fit and scared him some too! After about a week the spots stopped being a problem and faded out of sight and the farmer soon forgot about the white spider.

Several months later the little village where the farmer lived started having problems with some strange new disease that seemed to have come from nowhere! Many people were getting sick and there seemed to be no cure for them. All though the sickness didn’t prove fatal all of the people that got it had fevers and lost precious time from their jobs and farms!

The farmer who had been bitten by the little white spider kept on working his fields and made a bountiful crop that year. That fall when the crops were all in the farmer walked out into the meadow one afternoon and sat down on a tree stump to rest and enjoy the beauty of the season. He sat there for a while and put his arm up on a part of the tree limb hanging down over him.

“Mr. Farmer, how are you doing today?”…………..the farmer looked around but couldn’t see anyone…….again the voice said, “Mr. Farmer, how are you doing today?”  About that time the farmer saw a little white spider sittin on his knee! That couldn’t be the spider talking to him he thought! But yes, it was the little white spider!!!! “Did you have a good crop this year?” he asked.

The farmer said, well, yes I did. I never did get that sickness that most people had and my crops got all of the attention they needed for me to have a bountiful season.

The little white spider asked, “Did you ever wonder why you didn’t get sick when almost everybody else did this year?”

The farmer replied, “yes, I wondered many times but never could figure out why I was so lucky when many others were not!”

Mr. Spider looked at the farmer and then said, “Remember that day in the field when you get bitten several times in the field and pulled your shirt off and tried to smash me when you found me falling out of your shirt? The bites I gave you that day had medicine in them that protected you from the sickness that took over the village. I bit you to give you protection you would need to stay healthy. You and your family have given me  and my family shelter from the weather for many years and I wanted to save you from the illness this year.”

A thought ran through the farmer’s  mind……….can this really be happening or is my mind playing tricks on me?

The little white spider replied without being asked, Well, Mr. Farmer I guess its just a matter of opinion!