The Donkey and the Well

A donkey once fell into a well. The farmer who owned the donkey decided that there was no way to get the donkey out of the well, so he called a bunch of his farmer friends over. Together, they began shoveling dirt into the well to cover the donkey. After shoveling for half an hour, they looked down to see if they had covered up the donkey yet. To their surprise, the donkey was standing on top of all of the dirt they had shoveled, looking up at them. The farmer couldn’t believe it, and they all started shoveling again. When he checked the donkey again, the same thing happened—the donkey was standing on top of the dirt. The farmer couldn’t understand how this was happening, so he threw in a shovelful of dirt and watched the donkey. To his surprise, when the dirt fell on the donkey’s head, he would shake his head and thus shake off the dirt. Then, he would take a step up. Happily, the farmers shoveled in more dirt until finally the donkey walked right out of the well.

It’s the same with us. We may fall into the well of despair, or the well of worry, or the well of sin. We can do one of two things: allow ourselves to be covered up with the dirt, or shake it off and take one step up. If we choose the latter, eventually we will get out of that well and be able to move on with our lives. Of course, I think it is only with the love of the Savior that we are even able to shake our heads.