I finally went with Howard out into the country to see some raved-about donkeys. I was immediately smitten! Two young donkeys, looking like toy stuffed animals, stood beside the fence. A wide, white band encircled each of their muzzles against their dark brown coats, making them even more appealing.
This made me think of a verse in a cantata that my husband and I participated in one Christmas many years ago. I remember some of the words, which were something like this:
"The little donkey's feet so small went down the narrow road, so filled with people every where, they noticed not his load."
Of course, it referred to Mary, who was with child, traveling to abide with her cousin, Elizabeth, whose husband was the priest, Zacharias. No doubt the little donkey was tired, but steadfast, as it stepped carefully and purposely over the sharp, protruding rocks or slippery stones on the narrow road.
Donkeys must have been the main mode of transportation then, as even Jesus rode on the foal of a donkey in his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He had previously directed two of his disciples
where to find a colt with its mother to bring to him, fulfilling the prophecy in Matthew 21:5, of the King, meek and sitting on a donkey, when the multitudes cried out, "Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest."
A story in Numbers 22-33 tells of a donkey that recognized an angel carrying a sword which would have killed his master had the animal not protected him.
Obviously, donkeys have their place in the world, and my husband wants a couple of them to have a place close by!
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