Welcome to Ray Flatt's Weekly BubbaGram ------- One day Bubba's donkey got loose and wandered onto his neighbor's Earlās farm where he accidentally stepped onto some rotten boards and fell smack dap down into a dried up well. The animal bellowed (donkey complaining) and cried piteously for hours as Bubba and Earl tried to figure out what on earth to do. Finally, they decided the animal was old, and they would just go ahead and bury him alive (kinda like some companies do to employees when they get a little aged, you know just a little wear n tear on them); after all it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. They invited all their neighbors to come over and help then. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly (ther he goes complaininā again). Then, to everyone's amazement he finally quieted down. Isn't it amazing how we can get used to just about anything. A few shovel loads later, Bubba and Earl finally looked down the well. They were astonished at what they saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit the donkeyās back, the donkey was doing somethinā amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors (THE WORLD) continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off! Life (the world) is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles can be a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. Thatās a fine little story if we just stopped there...now as Paul Harvey would say, here is the rest of the story -------- Even though the donkey got out of the well, he wasn't a very happy creature downright angry (reminds me of us humans sometimes...instead of being thankful and forgiving, we harbor angry) The donkey later came back, and bit Bubba in the butt, after all Bubba had tried to bury him. "Alive". The gash from the bite got infected, and Bubba plum near died in agony from septic shock. MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON: When you do something wrong, and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you in the "END". Be extremely careful in life, you will REAP what you SOW. ------- As you all know, I have hundred of stories...but I'm always open to another good story. If you have on suitable for sharing (or adaptation to the Bubba and Earl series), please send it to me at bubba@rayflatt.com. Have a blessed day! PS: If you got this eMail in error or would not like any future Bubba Grams (story on a weekly basis)...just send it back with the words UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject.