the great bugtussle rodeo

Gary Mitchell and amos: A view from under the pew

Editor’s note: Amos is a church mouse, who types by hurling himself at the keys, but he can’t work the capital shift keys, and he shuns punctuation marks – except dashes and hyphens.

boss whoever first spoke

or sang - i love a parade -

must have been misquoted

i m almost sure they said

- i love a rodeo -

the great bugtussle rodeo

is here everybody s decked

out in their buckaroo chaps

bandanas and cowboy hats

life takes on invincibility

when you re stomping

around in your boots and

your cowboy common-

sense-ability

a stunning array of events

headline this year s rodeo

boss who can turn their

backs on such events as

rat roping by cowboy ants

riding gerbils

tarantula wrestling by

tumble bugs

bareback cricket riding

wild bullfrog riding and

light racing done by

cowgirl ladybugs riding

on moth-steeds who fly

around three light bulbs

and then race for the

finish line

but boss my favorite event

is the wild aphid milking

contest in which two

cowboy ants try to catch

a wild aphid milk it and

then race to the finish line

with a few drops in a

narrow-neck bottle

this year though boss

all the rodeo athletes

gathered together in the

rodeo arena stands for

something special called

cowboy church

cowboy balladeer and

pastor bobby beetle

strummed his makeshift

guitar and sang about

billy bob the cowboy ant

trying to stay aboard

ol green the buckin

machine grasshopper

but ol green in his

twisting and turning

and jumping flipped over

on his neck and killed

both himself and billy bob

it was a mournful dirge

boss but then bobby beetle

told the cowboy crowd

ol green was still unridden

and billy bob still had never

been beaten but what

difference did it make

as the world goes round

because both of them were

dead and in the ground

what is your life worth

says he that you would

gamble it for eternity

consider now instead him

who rose from the dead

jesus is alive and well

trust him to keep your

soul from hell

so many folks think that

if you trust in him your

chances for fun are slim

but that s not true says he

you ll be joyous and free

without jesus sin makes

your soul to wilt

but in him real joy comes

cause you re free from guilt

jesus is the one who frees us

says he and makes life as

exciting as any rodeo can be

amos