I’m not sure how much this cowboy poem has to do with Freedom, but I got a kick out of it when my good friend John Olsen sent it my way.  I don’t know who wrote poem, or how old it really is.  But it doesn’t take much of a stretch to imagine some old codger spinning this yarn as if it were 110% real.

 

Jake, the rancher, went one day to fix a distant fence.

The wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled gray and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in and gathered tools to go,

The temperature had fallen, wind and snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pickup, he felt a heavy heart.

From the sound of that ignition, he knew it wouldn’t start.

So Jake did what most of us would do if we had just been there.

He humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a prayer

As he turned the key just one last time, he softly cursed his luck.

They found him three days later, frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life and done his share of roaming.

But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked– — it looked just like Wyoming!

Of all the saints in Heaven, his favorite was St. Peter.

(Now, this line ain’t needed but it helps with rhyme and meter)

So they set and talked a minute or two, or maybe it was three.

Nobody was keepin’ score — — in Heaven time is free.

"I’ve always heard," Jake said to Pete, "that God will answer prayer,

But one time I asked for help, well, he just plain wasn’t there."

Why does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the prayers of others?

That don’t seem exactly square — — I know all men are brothers."

"Or does he randomly reply, without good rhyme or reason?

Maybe, it’s the time of day, the weather or the season."

"Now I ain’t trying to act smart, it’s just the way I feel.

And I was wondering’, could you tell me — — what the heck’s the deal?!"

Peter listened very patiently and when Jake was done,

There were smiles of recognition, and he said, "So, you’re the one!!"

"That day your truck, it wouldn’t start, and you sent your prayer a flying,

You gave us all a real bad time, with hundreds of us trying"

"A thousand angels rushed, to check the status of your file,

But you know, Jake, we hadn’t heard from you in quite a long while."

"And though all prayers are answered and God ain’t got no quota,

He didn’t recognize your voice, and started a truck in North Dakota."

BETTER KEEP IN TOUCH!