Nursery Rhymes for Adult Spiritual Enrichment

There was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly

I don't know why she swallowed a fly - perhaps she'll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider

That wriggled and wiggled and tiggled inside her

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly

I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird

How absurd to swallow a bird

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly

I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat

Fancy that to swallow a cat

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly

I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die

There was an old lady that swallowed a dog

What a hog, to swallow a dog

She swallowed the dog to catch the cat

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly

I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow

I don't know how she swallowed a cow

She swallowed the cow to catch the dog

She swallowed the dog to catch the cat

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly

I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse

She's dead, of course

This nusery rhyme inspires the idea that sometimes we indulge in behavior that gets us deeper and deeper into something that is fatal to our welfare. It seems harmless to swallow a fly, but to employ a spider to rid you of that misrake starts to develop a rhythm that is a detriment to life. Then it becomes extreme to employ a bird to eliminate that mistake, and it just keeps getting worse. After employing one "assassin" after another to remove a small mistake, it becomes fatal. This nursery rhyme inspires us with the idea that one tiny act of indiscretion can lead to one ill advised act after another in the effort to erase the initial error. Destructive intent can be physically fatal, and certainly spiritually fatal. In this writing, we see why remedy of a wrong comes through the spiritual attitude of our inner life, but trying to eliminate a mistake by physical means is detrimental. In essence, the ability to forgive and tolerate our short comings is conducive of life, whereas unbearable regret leads to fatal reactions.