Adventure Story Articles DEWEY'S WORLD OF COINS
Off The Cuff
by Dewey Maggard
Burros For Adoption
Burros for adoption was a recent newspaper caption. A man in Turlock, California who is president of Save the
Burros Association currently has a dozen of these intelligent hoofed creatures for adoption. There is a
considerable fee involved and certain qualifications must be met if you are to adopt one. You must be worthy and
willing to love the little critter. (These are Burros from the Grand Canyon).
Animals have always had a special place in the lives of mankind. Man has been dependent on certain animals for
his livelihood; to name a few, the ox, and the horse, the elephant and the camel. Their major roles have been for
work, communication, warfare, recreation and amusement. Alexander the Great could not have fulfilled biblical
prophecy without the horse. He was personally very fond of his own horse. Mankind loves most animals. This is
understandable. The devotion to their master has endeared them to the extent that man attempts to recreate them
with the power of speech. Many animals are able to understand voice commands. Therefore, we find ourselves
talking to them. Many a burro has been companion to the old prospector who talks his heart out to his burro
along the dusty trail. The only answers are moving ears or a swish of the tail.
I heard the story of Bridie several years before it became a movie. My old friend, Charlie Lyons who had
prospected during the depression told me the story. The basic story is very similar except the name of the burro in
Charlies yarn is Wilbur. Gus, the prospector and Wilbur the burro had a happy ending. Gus had promised Wilbur
that when he had enough gold, they would retire in luxury. Sure enough, goes the story, as late as 1940, you could
drive by an old mansion on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona surrounded by green pastures. There, you would see
Wilbur grazing in the green pastures of his promised heaven. During the gold rush days, another man became so
attached to his donkey that he shared his chewing tobacco with him. This donkeys name was Jasper. Jasper
spent more than half of his 35 years working at the 2000 foot level of the Empire Mine in Grass Valley, California.
His master never had to use a bridle on Jasper; Only voice commands were given, and the necessary tasks were
accomplished.
In recent times, men have created such fantasy in connection with animals giving them the power of speech.
Apparently, there is no harm in imagining a real animal to talk with you within certain limits. Walt Disney was not
the original creator of animation. In our Bible, we find an early record of a burro actually talking with Balaam
through the Holy Spirit (Num 22:28). Aesops fables with talking animals occurs much later in antiquity, and may
have been inspired as a result of the story of Balaam and his talking burro.
In more recent times, we find a delightful story by James Thurber; What happened to Charley? This is a fantasy
with an excellent lesson. Many barnyard animals take part in this amusing tale of a horse who disappears one day
while on a trip to the village smith to be shod. It may be that our modern talking animal stories were hatched as a
result of Thurbers story of Charley.
A recent example is Charlottes Web. This story has Charlotte a spider moderating barnyard dialogue and
especially giving advice to Wilbur, a prize pig, who has just learned that he may become a smoked ham. Then,
there has been a long list of inanimate objects being given the power of speech such as in Wizard of Oz. Now all
of this may seem quite harmless since frequently there are moral lessons attached to real life situations. We have
inanimate objects speaking in the Bible. Speaking trees and vines. (See Judges 9:10)
But, now the stage is set. Let us see what is currently taking place. Satan has invaded the realm of harmless
fantasy with evil imaginations, perverting the minds of our young with evil thoughts. He is capitalizing on this
method to capture tender minds. It is he who is using young men and women to create the unreal, weird, and
grotesque such as Aturi or Jedi of Star Wars. God is a God of unending quality and beauty. He does not
create the grotesque. (Gavest thou the goodly wing unto the peacocks? Job 39:13). And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually. (Gen 6:5). And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. Luke
17:26) Therefore as we approach the edge of eternity, let us lean on the everlasting arms of God obeying every
command with the same trust as Jasper, the mule in the deep dark depths of our daily lives.
Show us thy ways O Lord, teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me for thou art the God of my
salvation: on thee do I wait all the day. Through our own obedience, we too will write our own chapters (for a
future in green pastures) in a city I am told where the streets are of pure gold. (Rev. 2l:21).
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