The Mousetrap

In 1969 Rachel, doing her nursing training in London, was given free tickets to see ‘The Mousetrap’. We went.

Last night we saw this famous Agatha Christie murder mystery again in Norwich. It’s an excellent show… 8 people in a guest house are cut off by a snowstorm… one is a murderer…

Musing…

…Hidden secrets… Each of the characters has hidden secrets that are revealed as the plot unfolds…

…I’m quick to judge people – their character, motives, strengths, weaknesses… The more I get to know people I realise that I don’t know them fully; I don’t know their hidden secrets.

…You mustn’t tell… One tradition of The Mousetrap is that the audience is bound to secrecy. You must never say ‘whodunnit’.

…There are times when I must hold confidences, not share the secrets of others. I need the wisdom and self-control when not to tell.

…3 blind mice… appears frequently throughout the story (hence ‘The Mousetrap’).

Originally the farmer’s wife was catholic Queen Mary; the three mice, protestant bishops Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer, (blind to catholic ‘truth’), were tortured, (perhaps blinded) and burnt at the stake (amputated tails) in front of hundreds of spectators…

Did you ever see such a thing in your life? Christians should be aware, ashamed and learn from church history.

…Who’d have thought it?… Finally the surprise murderer is revealed… 53 years ago we couldn’t have predicted that we’d see The Mousetrap together again…

…Life’s so unpredictable… full of surprises and revelations. I don’t know what today… next year… the long term future… will bring.

…Final resolution… We finally discover ‘whodunnit’. The mystery is resolved.

…I meet so many friends who need things to be resolved… past guilt, unsettled arguments, recurring bad memories, unhappiness they’re unwilling or unable to put right. All needs to be resolved and the final curtain drawn…

For me, somewhere in the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection, I continue to discover that there can be forgiveness, reconciliation and the final resolution.