Article April 15, 2002 Issue

A reason to be glad

Is it possible to maintain joy when problems or physical pain demand all our attention?

By Mark Swinney

There's a story about a farmer's donkey that fell down into an old, dry well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided that since the well was dry and should be covered up anyway, it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. So he invited his neighbors to come over and help him fill the well.

They all grabbed shovels and began to throw dirt into the hole. At first, the donkey cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, it quieted down.

A few shovel-loads later, the farmer looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovelful of dirt that hit its back, the donkey would shake off the dirt and step up onto it. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, it continued to shake the dirt off and step up higher. Pretty soon, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off.