Twenty-Two Hundred Mice

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

"Over-crowdedness can kill humanity." At least, that is a brief summarization of Dr. John Calhoun’s philosophy. His study on caged mice had a huge impact on how physicians treat those with mental illness. We must learn something from Dr. Calhoun – The Christian must take a moment to realize the same killer of the mice in his study is still with us today. It wasn’t the lack of food, water, oxygen, or activity that killed the mice in his research. It was their lack of alone time. Allow me to explain…I will paraphrase when possible, but some information is directly from his body of work.

Dr. Calhoun built a large nine-foot square cage for his first 8 mice. The original mice had a generous amount of space, given the cage comfortably held about 160 adults. Within short order, the mice began to produce. He observed closely as the mice population grew to over 2,200.

The report stated, "The mice were not neglected from physical needs – they always had fresh water, food, good air quality, and other necessities. Even the room was kept at a comfortable temperature. The only restriction was that Dr. Calhoun had ensured the mice could not escape from their nine-foot square cage."

Interestingly, when the mice population reached its peak, the entire colony’s infrastructure disintegrated. As noted in his work, he noticed the following:

A)     The males who had originally protected their territory – withdrew

B)     The female mice became aggressive – they pushed out their own babies

C)     No particular social role was formed for the young, healthy mice

D)     The young mice became extremely self-indulgent – they also failed to reproduce

The good doctor later stated, "After five years, EVERY mouse died. They all died despite of plenty of food, water, oxygen, comfortable temperatures, and being relatively healthy. No disease among the colony was ever found."

I understand that we aren’t mice and we don’t live in cages, yet, Calhoun’s research conveys a few points for the Christian worth meditating on.

I.                    Beware of a life without privacy! We continually find ourselves pushing too hard, going too often, doing too much, giving to excess, and fizzling out at the end of the week, or the day. Constantly over-extending ourselves is draining in many ways. If we make it a habit to commit a little bit to everyone, then undoubtedly someone gets slighted in a time of need. We must realize that juggling too many balls will cause us to get dizzy – at some point we will drop the ball! It can be compared to a firefighter putting out little flames all over the ground. We stomp, and stomp, and stomp thinking the fire will dissipate. But one keeps popping up, and we find ourselves scurrying everywhere, all over the place, and never putting out the fire.

II.                  Do not rationalize your “business.” Even though the Christian knows that a key to knowing God requires us “to be still,” (Psalm 46) you allow yourself to be distracted by too many things, too many times a day, too many times per week. By doing this, our spiritual growth is hindered. You cannot grow in the area that matters most, if you’re constantly struggling to be everything to everyone all of the time. It isn’t possible!

Be aware of the danger of living a life without privacy! By privacy, I mean the quiet time in your home, the silence in your mind, the physically alone time in your vehicle to and from work, the beginning of the day before you pray, the end of the day when you close in prayer, the personal time you MUST incorporate into your daily life. To linger in His presence, to shut out the noise of the world, is an extreme gift, but it requires a particular consciousness! The Christian MUST grow. It requires discipline.

As I stated earlier, the same killer of these mice in Dr. Calhoun’s study remains prevalent today. Life Moment: For parents, if you keep up the overcrowded schedule for weeks and months on end, your young are at high risk for not reproducing qualities worth living for. Our young people must know what YOUR priorities are. We make time for that which we love, right? Ask yourself: Is it really a worthy investment if God isn’t first?

Remember what happened in Calhoun’s research – not one mouse survived. Not one little creature survived the over-crowdedness of their lives.

Let’s spend quiet time in His Word…in worship…in prayer.

Look UP my friends!