Rise Above the Circumstances

By J. Thorn © 1989

Issue: November, 1989

Old Jim had been a faithful horse,
But he was growing old
So Uncle Lem made up his mind
The horse should not be sold.

But turned out in the pasture land
To roam and feed at will,
Or rest beneath the shady trees,
Down by the water still.

Lem loved his faithful servant Jim,
And watched him day by day,
And when he whistled to the horse
Jim gave an answering neigh.

One day the horse had disappeared,
So Lem went out to see
What had become of faithful Jim,
Where could that creature be?

Lem thought of an abandoned well
which had uncovered been;
He hurried down the path to see;
Yes Jim had fallen in.

If he had tried to pull him out
A leg might broken be
So he would go and get his gun
And end Jim's misery.

Lem brought the gun but couldn't bear
To shoot old faithful Jim,
So brought a shovel and pick
With which to bury him.

Lem took a shovel full of dirt
And rolled it in the well
It slid down the horse back
And to the bottom fell-

As fast as ever load was sent
The horse would stomp it down
And as they both thus worked away
At last the well was gone.

Out jumped the horse, all whole and sound
Kicked up his heels and ran
Let's get from out this simple tale
A moral, if we can.

When people try to crush us down,
And cover us with dirt.
Let's stomp it underneath our feet,
And never let it hurt.

Let's be like Jim and rise above
The troubles that beset,
If we are on the side of right
We'll gain the Victory yet.