If you’re not familiar with the one-hundred and sixteen year old Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck (Beatrix Potter), I highly recommend picking up a copy (and reading it in the appropriate vicinity of children to avoid awkward glances). Then read it again. Being a shorter story, you’ll have nearly every word memorized. However, maybe you’re a busy two-legged creature like I am and missed a few of the simple truths about friendship this oblivious waterfowl’s experience can offer. Here’s a few of the principles I waddled walked away with; I hope you’ll share yours in the comments!

Not Everyone Who is Friendly is a Friend

If ever there was a “duh” moment, this is one. You don’t even need to have read this story to agree with me, but I pay an annual fee for this website so humor me. Jemima is, as Potter describes, a “simpleton” and completely gullible. In her quest to find a suitable place to lay eggs and nest, she meets a “gentlemen with sandy whiskers” who is – you guessed it – a cunning fox after her delicious eggs.

While Potter herself was an admitted Unitarian, I consider the fox an accidental allusion to Satan who the Bible refers to as the “father of lies” in John 8:44. As the story goes on, it is clear there is no truth in him. Unfortunately for our sweet Jemima, she was distracted by his seeming hospitality and almost ended up the main course were it not for her friend, collie-dog Kep.

Word of warning to the glazed donuts that subscribe to my blog. If I invite you over, I’m eating you and all of your friends.

Good Friends Listen and Can Tell There’s Something Wrong

As ridiculous as it sounds, fox sent Jemima to pick the seasonings he would use to prepare the – wink, wink, nudge, nudge – “omelette.” But then again, who’s ever had to pick their own switch? Fortunately for Jemima, as she was in the garden picking herbs, collie-dog Kep saw her and found her behavior odd enough to stop and catch up with her. “What’s with the herbs and onions and where do you keep disappearing off to,” he asks in a concerning tone. Jemima opens up about the sandy-whiskered gentlemen and instantly, the “wise headed” Kep realizes she is being tricked and prods a little to learn more details about where dinner will be. It’s at this point in the story that Kep rallies some fox-hound puppies and you can almost hear Warren G’s “Regulate” play in the background.

Potter doesn’t provide any backstory for the relationship between Jemima and Kep but it is clear that they knew each other enough for the collie-dog to discern something was different about her behavior, activity and schedule. Further, Kep asked questions and listened for an opportunity to help.

You Are Not Alone (And Don’t Let Yourself Be if You Are!)

There is one thing the fox so cleverly leveraged to his advantage: Jemima was alone. When they met she was alone and as time went on, he made her isolation more and more appealing. It isn’t until its too late, until the shed door locks from the outside, that Jemima realizes the danger of her situation and that she is in real trouble.

The longer I live on this earth and the more years I have been a Christian, the more resolute I am in the belief that that isolation is the most pernicious and success tactic Satan uses to get inside our minds and destroy our lives. Personally, it starts in the mind and slowly makes its way to reality as I cancel obligations and distance myself from others. Very famously, the Bible says in Proverbs 27:17 that “iron sharpens iron as one mans sharpens another.”

True friends will be at your side in every season being an avenue for laughter, support, hope, courage, and enrich your overall quality of life. Never isolate yourself form the protection and blessing that is friendship.

One additional benefit of human friends is they won’t eat your baby eggs right after they rescue you. So weird, Potter…

---

If you enjoyed this blog, consider subscribing or sharing with family and friends! – Dom