By Jan Blumentritt

It started out to be a day like any other. It was Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving.  Since we had the day off, my husband and I had a flurry of activities planned, including shopping, mowing the lawn, trimming trees, and running errands. Crammed into the schedule was a quick trip to a local nursing home to practice with the donkeys. We do animal therapy visitations and had been having difficulties with two of our burros at this particular nursing home caused by the landscaping.  Donkeys don’t like to change walking surfaces, and this facility had a lot of them – asphalt, grass, dirt, concrete, curbs, and uneven sidewalks. The director had advised us that there were no activities planned on Friday, so it seemed like a good time for a donkey training session.

So, we loaded up the donkeys and drove to the facility. Conchita and Chela seemed happy to go for a ride, and we arrived and unloaded without incident. I then started “training” the donkeys.  With some coaxing I was able to get them to go up and down curbs, negotiate turns on the walking path, and stroll calmly across the sidewalks instead of using their usual broad jump technique.  The session was going great, and I had visions of becoming a famous Donkey Whisperer. One of the rules of training is to stop the session on a positive note, so I decided to load up and head for the barn.  I checked my watch thinking that I needed to hurry because I had spent more time than I had planned.

Unfortunately, I forgot the golden rule: Never, ever try to hurry a donkey. Forty-five minutes later I was still trying to get Conchita into the trailer. We tried every trick we could think of – we loaded Chela first and we coaxed Conchita with horse cookies, apples, and Fruit Loops (her personal favorite).  We started the truck and drove away slowly, hoping that Conchita would start running after the trailer and leap in.  We tugged her and nudged her and finally moved the trailer to the curb, so that she would only have to step up a couple of inches. But nothing worked. Conchita, in a polite but firm manner and for reasons known only to her and to God, simply refused to go into the trailer.

In his article Why Do People Abuse Donkeys? Mark Meyers, the Executive Director of Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, states that no animal can take away your power like a donkey.  We were certainly powerless at this point. I couldn’t understand what was happening. Remembering that donkeys have been known to both see into the spirit realm and talk to humans (Numbers 22 in the Hebrew Scriptures), I peered anxiously into the trailer. Was the Angel of the Lord blocking her way?  Did Conchita have something she was trying to tell me? If there were any messengers of the Lord in the trailer, I couldn’t see them.

We agreed that I would walk with Conchita, and Charles would follow in the truck in case I had any difficulties. Looming on the horizon were all kinds of potential obstacles. We would have to walk on the shoulder of a busy road with motorists driving by and honking (Why is it that the sight of excitable livestock compels people to honk their horns?), cross a major highway, and find our way through a buffet table of tasty plants (a pasture). I estimated the time for the trip home, including stopping due to honking, snacking, and balking on the highway, to be a minimum of two hours.

Resigned to the fact that Conchita was now in charge, I took the halter rope, and we began walking.  We made it to the busy road, and I relaxed, realizing that it was, after all, a beautiful sunny day. I began to feel the Presence of God – it was almost like we were encased in a protective cocoon.  Conchita walked along easily, basking under the gaze of God and enjoying the attention from motorists. “Hey, is that a donkey?” they would yell, after honking and rolling their windows down.  Conchita was good-natured about the traffic and seemed to take everything in stride.  We eventually arrived at the dreaded intersection. The donkey, who wouldn’t load and who usually had problems with terrain, strolled nonchalantly across the highway, going up and down curbs and under a noisy, vibrating bridge like she had been doing it all her life. We then meandered through the pasture and examined the plants and rocks. I was enjoying myself so much that I had forgotten all about my schedule. I realized later that we made it home in less than an hour. Charles and I then ignored our previous plans, went to eat, and spent the remainder of the day relaxing.

After thinking about this episode for several days, I have come to the conclusion that Conchita did indeed have something important to communicate. She taught me more in our “training session” than I taught her, and she reminded me to take time to stop and smell the hay. In her own special way, she showed me that, when faced with a busy, hectic schedule, perhaps the most important task to be accomplished is a leisurely stroll along the roadway, accompanied by the Presence of God and an understanding and wise donkey.

O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, our little brothers to whom Thou has given this earth as their home in common with us. May we realize that they live not for us alone, but for themselves and for Thee and that they love the sweetness of life even as we and serve Thee better in their place than we in ours. (My emphasis).

                                                                   St. Basil the Great, 370 A.D.

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