Any Ass Would Do

 

 

Easy there now, my friend,

No need to get upset,

Don’t think I am into expletives,

Don’t you dare bet.

 

I am into the Bible:

A narrative grabs my mind,

An event involving a man’s ass

Speaking at the time.

 

Now that you remember

You may think it special:

A talking jackass, if you please,

Not one that we tether.

 

There was nothing special

About Balaam’s jackass,

Not sure whether male or female

So, we can let that pass.

 

What we do know for sure

Is that it was an ass,

Check out the Bible for yourself:

That’s an easy task.

 

Numbers 22 verses 22-33:

Go to that location

And you will see what happened

On that occasion.

 

Like most jackasses

Balaam’s ass was faithful

But like jackasses he never talked

Because he was not able.

 

Nothing special, I reiterate,

About Balaam’s talking jackass

But like all hardworking asses

It was faithful in the past.

 

 

Well, except for that day

When its way was blocked,

It had noticed an angel in the way

Which Balaam had not.

 

God opened the ass’s mouth

And then opened Balaam’s eyes,

That order may have taken you

By mental surprise.

 

Balaam was mighty slow

Quite unlike his jackass

Which was far more alert than he

Of the blockage in the path.

 

Must have been special,

I note you are still adamant

But if you don’t know the Creator

You are gravely ignorant.

 

Let me therefore reiterate

My unswerving view,

Once in the hand of Almighty God

Any ass would do.

 

 

Such was Balaam’s ass

That yielded to God’s control,

Quite unlike his stupid master

Who was wrong yet bold.

 

Any ass would do

Doesn’t mean me or you,

Only asses like Balaam’s jackass:

Of the braying crew.

 

A talking jackass?

Nothing’s wrong with this,

God is the one who created the ass;

This we shouldn’t miss.

 

Stewart Russell © March 31, 2025

 

 

Treating the Symptoms

Each time we fix a symptom

The problem gloats,

It knows we have done nothing

Nothing of note.

It makes fun of us

Knowing it is still there

And when the plaster is removed

We will have the same fear.

All the day long

We battle the symptom

Meanwhile, the problem worsens

Claiming victim after victim.

A panadol will mask the pain

Just for a while

But the problem persists,

That is just its style.

The symptom is the discomfort

That gives us a warning

That something is wrong

And it needs attending.

Treat to the symptom, yes,

But don’t stop at that,

To arrest the problem

You have got to act.

Two approaches can be used

To problem solve,

I will highlight both

But please become involved.

The first is preventative

And this is always the best,

An once of prevention...

I am sure you know the rest.

The second is curative

The one mostly used,

Sometimes long after

There has been much abuse.

We ignore the symptoms

In our little children,

We think they are funny

It is no problem.

They lie and they steal

And we think they are smart

And as they get older,

They perfect the art.

They use expletives

Which we laughingly rebuke,

They laugh back with us

And we think they are cute.

They disobey us

And we threaten them

But as far as we are concerned

That is no problem.

Then they become defiant

And we cuss them out,

Now they are getting to us

So we begin to shout.

Next, we get a call

To come to the school

And we think to ourselves

The teacher must be a fool.

I have to work

I can not lose a day’s pay,

That will have to wait

Until some other day.

And besides all that

They are picking on my child,

Because all along

His behavior we denied.

On leaving school

Having wasted his years

He becomes the most wanted

Criminal out there.

  

I still grieve for a child

Whom I taught at a school,

He took great delight

In flouting the rules.

Today he is in prison

And is currently on death row

And if I call his name

You will certainly know.

This gives me no pleasure

Having taught him,

I too treated the symptoms

Instead of the problem.

Knee-jerk reactions

When something happens,

We treat the symptom

But seldom the problem.

Stewart Russell © November 2019