Setting the Record Straight

Listen up and listen well

Let me tell you a little about me,

I may be a down right jackass

But I will settle for donkey.

A hard worker most of the time

Though some call me lazy,

A lazy jackass some will say

But I prefer donkey.

I am mentioned in the book of Job

At least, my female relatives,

She asses is the term there used

But donkey is less abrasive.

Five hundred of us are mentioned

Later we were one thousand,

God must have been very pleased

To double Job’s donkey band.

In Genesis chapter 12

When Abram left the Chaldees,

We were listed among his wealth

As asses not donkeys.

Then, it was he and she asses

Never the name jackass,

So please, if you must, call me donkey

And let the jackass name be past.

As you can readily see,

Donkeys permeate the Bible

And on at least one occasion

I acted wiser than people.

Let me tell you of that time

When I acted wiser than a man,

He was my owner and master

That man’s name was Balaam.

  

I was a faithful donkey

I had never done him wrong

But one day I was donkey-obstinate

For Balaam was wrong and strong.

I became a talking donkey

Though he was no ventriloquist

And had I not opened my mouth

He would be on the death list.

 

Even then he was still stupid

And was angry that I had talked,

He would have pushed his sword in me

Had not the angel bid him halt.

Though I was a foolish donkey

I saw the danger first,

The angel with his flaming sword

About to deliver the death curse.

Another time I was privileged

To transport a pregnant woman

All the way from Bethlehem

To Nazareth where she was summoned.

Her husband went to pay taxes

As decreed by Caesar Augustus

And the wonder of that journey was,

She was bearing the baby Jesus.

With Jesus was another encounter

Significant for both him and me,

That day as he rode into Jerusalem

He was carried by a donkey.

 

I was that celebrated donkey

That walked on clothes and palms,

I had become a visible player

In God’s redemptive plan.

I had never been ridden before

For back then I was just a foal

But the master chose me, a donkey,

To perform that important roll.

Twice I had borne the Master,

Yes, he rode upon my back,

Beast of burden you will call me

But you can’t do better than that.
 

I featured in “Animal Farm”

It was not in the best of lights

But being far wiser that all the others

I knew we would get no rights.

Call me stubborn and obstinate,

Call me ugly and grotesque,

But each time I carried the Master

I was at my supreme best.

I take no credit for such

I am a donkey not a jackass,

Too many humans have attempted that

And guess what? They fell fast.

King Herod comes to mind,

He attempted to take God’s glory,

As a result, he died a horrible death

Go to Acts 12 for the story.

Now that I have set the record straight

I will bid you all good-bye,

I am one of God intended creatures

And that you can’t deny.

Stewart Russell © March 2020