Kindness Continues

One of my favorite lines from a favorite Indigo Girls song: If you have a care in the world, you have a gift to bring. We can’t always cite a reason for this caring, and why would that matter? To care, to share our gifts, that is living, to LIVE, to be alive to the many interlinked forms and functions of this singular world. In the face of a context that can feel overwhelmingly opposite to this, our insistence on and persistence in a life of caring is not abdication of “more important” responsibilities. Consider how the shared gift creates ongoing and outward rippling compassion and courage. Two donkeys shared their long lives with us here at the farm, and in honor and memory of all they brought, I celebrate today’s World Donkey Day with you.

Save Your Ass Longears Rescue

Donkeys, or burros if you prefer, hold a special light for many people around the world. Because we cared for two such characters here, our friends often found ways to connect us with organizations that also cared about these long-eared creatures. In New England, the Save Your Ass Long Ears Rescue began with donkeys, but few rescues manage to stop there. Mules are infertile crosses between donkeys and horses, retaining the longer ears, and are often included at donkey rescues. One summer when I worked in a Forest Service wilderness area, we packed a pair of pony mules. They were my first long-ears acquaintances.

A friend who was the long-time director of our local animal shelter now winters in Nevada, and returned one year with a t-shirt for me from Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, part of a Global Federation of Animal Rescues. A Donkey Museum in Mesquite celebrates many of the connections between people and donkeys in the U.S., including the passage of the 1973 Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in Congress. Their commitment to supporting donkeys has broadened to provide sanctuary for burros removed from public lands, such as the ones Wyoming’s Honor Farm program takes on. Inmates at the facility work with these burros to get them ready for packing to help them appeal to more potential adopters.

Even in soggy Ireland, The Donkey Sanctuary provides a way for people to invest their (inexplicable?) care to many donkeys in need, and it provides a place for donkeys to step into their new roles as ambassadors of kindness. Their site shows up as #1 thing for visitors to do in County Cork’s community of Mallow, according to traveler ratings on TripAdvisor.  As St. Francis of Assisi encouraged so long ago: Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them whenever they require it.