Best Built Bears

Best Built Bears
Written By: Joe Moore

Abe and Sarah sat on the front porch watching the beautiful sun take on the appearance of a giant peach as it sunk between mountains west of Barefeets Mountain. Sarah asked Abe why the sun turned from bright yellow to the pretty pink and orange colors when it lowered down between those mountains. Abe laughed and told Sarah she should ask God that question because he didn’t know why it turned those colors. He was just glad it did because it sure was pretty.

Sarah told Abe she thought he knew everything. Abe laughed and told Sarah the only thing he could think of at that time was there was a molasses making party about to start at Methuselah’s barn. They needed to be there to help Methuselah grind the sugar cane. Sarah told Abe she would race him to the head of the trail. Abe jumped up and ran down the steps from the porch. He waited on Sarah at the bottom of the steps. Abe knew Sarah was faster than he was so as soon as she reached the bottom step, Abe started running.

Sarah caught Abe but was laughing so hard, she couldn’t pass him. Just as Abe looked around to see what Sarah was laughing at, he felt a tug on his little tail and heard a loud crashing noise. Abe looked around to see what the noise was and saw a small rope tied to his tail. The other end of the rope was tied to his rocking chair. The chair had been sitting on the porch but was now lying on the ground in front of the porch.

When he looked back around Sarah was standing at the head of the trail.  She was bent over laughing at him. Abe stood there looking at her then he too began to laugh with her. Abe untied the rope from his tail and put his rocking chair back up on the porch.

Abe caught up to Sarah on the trail and took her paw in his as they walked toward Methuselah’s barn. Sarah tried to hold back her laughter but every time she thought of how funny Abe looked with that chair tied to his tail she would snicker under her breath. Abe told Sarah she was proof that God had a sense of humor. Sarah stopped and looked at Abe. Then she gave him a big bear hug and looked up to God and thanked him for giving her such a great friend as Abe.

As Abe and Sarah neared Methuselah’s barn, they heard growling. Abe and Sarah quickly walked toward the sound. They could see several young bears standing at the base of huge oak tree. These young bears were looking up into the tree, growling loudly and laughing. As Abe and Sarah approached, the young bears stopped growling and laughing. Abe asked why they were growling and laughing. One of the young bears pointed up into the tree and asked Abe if he had ever seen anything as funny as that. Abe looked up into the tree and saw a huge brown bear setting in the fork of the tree.

Abe called out to the bear in the fork of the tree and asked what his name was. The bear spoke slowly and said his name was Goliath. Abe could tell by the sound of his voice that he was scared. Abe asked him to come down out of the tree. Goliath climbed slowly down the tree and stood beside Abe and Sarah. He was three feet taller than Abe
.
Abe asked the other young bears why they had been growling and laughing at Goliath. Mark, one of the young bears, said they were laughing at Goliath because he was different than they were. Sarah looked up at Goliath and said she didn’t see the difference. Mark asked Goliath where he was from. Goliath spoke very slowly and said he was from the west side of Barefeets Mountain. The young bears broke out in laughter and mocked his slow speech. They joked about how big he was, too

Sarah looked up at Goliath’s and saw tears streaming down his sad bear face. Sarah stepped in front of Goliath and told the young bears that Goliath was not much bigger than Abe. She asked why they were not laughing and growling at Abe. Mark told Sarah that Abe didn’t talk slow like Goliath. Sarah told the young bears they should be ashamed of themselves for making fun of Goliath and hurting his feelings. 

Goliath told Abe, Sarah and the other bears he was not sad because the young bears had made fun of him. Goliath said he did not choose the way he looked or the way he spoke so his feelings were not hurt by what the other bears said about him. Goliath said God designed and made him. He was happy with the way he was because he knew God never made mistakes. Goliath said when the other bears were making fun of him they were insulting God. So he was sad because he felt sorry for God. Immediately all of the bears dropped their heads in shame. Goliath looked up to God and asked him to forgive all of his bear friends for insulting His design and creation.  END