Brutes

Page 3 of today's Tribune had a map with the grizzly sitings marked. 5 adults and 3 cubs have been spotted approximately 27-29 miles from us! I don't know what I would do if a grizzly came through at night and attacked the dogs. We will have to stock up on bear spray, just in case; it appears it is our only line of defense. Grizzlies are brutes. There may be some grizzly bears that are content to live by humans and not bother them, but would you trust your children and livestock or pets with them in the same area. According to the map, they have killed a great number of calves and sheep.

I had a run in with a different kind of brute, when I was a kid. It was a hot, sunny day and I went to the creek bank to bask in the sun. The creek ran through our property a short distance and then curved around and back out again, leaving a lush "island" that was about half the size of a football field. The banks around the creek were probably about 15 feet high, with gullies where you could go down to the creek side. The most southern bank was broken down a little and had a wonderful, sandy spot for laying in the sun and listening to music, reading, or just enjoying the sun.

On the other side of the fence, the neighbors had range cattle. This particular year he had gotten a Texas Long Horn Bull. And it was BIG and its horns were LONG. They just happen to be on the other side right across from the "island" on this day. Dad, or maybe the neighbor, had put heavy rocks on the barbed wire fence to weigh it down so they couldn't swim under and get to our side. I had noticed the bull trying to get through the fence and he made me uneasy, but I stayed. Suddenly something alerted me that something was different. I looked up and the bull had gotten over to our side!!! And he was looking at ME!

I was a fast runner, but that day I probably broke all records as I raced across the pasture. I could hear his hooves pounding, but didn't dare stop and look back. I got to the top of the long slope that covered about 2/3rds of the way home and was so relieved to see the farm. I ran and then threw myself over the fence. Now I looked back and there he was. Standing at the top of the hill and making his way down. I ran to the house and got Mom, who then got Dad. Dad told Mom to call the neighbors to open the gate in the pasture-- he was bringing the bull over. He armed himself with a 4x4 post and with his left hand he wrapped that bull's tail right down to his tailbone and held him tight. He then maneuvered that bull out into the pasture and up the hill. If he tried to get Dad with his horns, he got his tail yanked hard the opposite way he was trying to turn and whacked with the 4x4. That was an 80 acre pasture and the gate was on the fartherest corner. It took a lot of guts to do that. One thing I really wish I could see, though, was the neighbor's face when Dad got to the gate and released the bull.

You may know a brute, also, as we live in a world filled with them. Savage, self-centered people who's only desire are for themselves. In the Bible, we find the following:

• Psalm 123:1 -4 I look to you, heaven-dwelling God, look up to you for help. Like servants, alert to their master's commands, like a maiden attending her lady, We're watching and waiting, holding our breath, awaiting your word of mercy. Mercy, God, mercy! We've been kicked around long enough, Kicked in the teeth by complacent rich men, kicked when we're down by arrogant brutes.

You only need to open the paper and see all the children that have been killed, or mained by those in whose care they have been entrusted. What a great betrayal for those little babies and little children, whatever their age!! And those brutes who deceive our daughters and sons into believing that abortion is not the destruction of a child. Most certainly we have a God whose anger is going to be great when He unleashes it on this world.