Sunday, January 16, 2011

Ask Amber Donkey - January 2011


Source:  The Courier-Mail
Photographed by:  Nick De Villiers

Editors Note:  This month's question comes from one of our readers in Australia regarding the devastating floods affecting their area.  There has been catastrophic devastation and great loss of human and animal life.  She also forwarded this photo that really says it all.  This man saw this joey up to his eyes in water when, without giving another thought, he swam out to save him.  This photo was taken as he brought him back on dry land.  The joey survived.  Many folks feel he was foolish to have risked his life for a kangaroo.  But his young son asked him to do something, and without hesitation he did.  He says he was raised to care for life and if someone is in need, you help.  Below is the question, sent in by someone living in this area and trying to make sense of what this tragedy means, followed by Amber Donkey's response.

Question: 

Dear Amber,

I live in Australia where we are currently experiencing our worst floods in recorded history.

The human death toll is rising, but there are also countless animals, both domestic and wild, that have lost their lives in the surging flood waters. One very distressing example is the stud farm where 80 thoroughbred horses drowned, much to the distress of their carers who were perched on the roofs of the buildings watching it unfold below them.

Did these animals know what was about to happen to them?
Did they put themselves through this to teach us humans anything?
Was their suffering mercifully short?

I have found all this to be extremely upsetting, and would appreciate your time and answer.

Amber Donkey:  First I call upon all who hear this to join me. We all must send our prayers and thoughts to all of earth’s beings experiencing this crisis. The more of us who do so, the faster all can heal and recover. This is a simple and basic truth that is understood by all living beings. It requires a deep faith that your thoughts matter. That your heart contains an energy that expedites healing no matter where it is needed in relationship to your physical location. There is such power in your intentions and thoughts. Let’s harness that power now.


There are tragedies that happen on this planet every day. There is no such thing as a small tragedy for those experiencing them. But to the observer, some seem larger than others. In reality, it is merely your perspective that defines that. An occurrence that takes the life of one horse may not seem tragic to you, yet it could be an enormous tragedy to all who knew that horse. Humans tend to measure tragedies by numbers affected. But this is not about numbers. This is about feelings and lives. With that understanding I shall answer your questions the best I can.

Did the animals know what was about to happen to them? It is fair to say that certainly some of them did. Animals tend to pay attention more to the subtle whispers of nature and the earth. Did they know they were to die? We can’t know that. But it is with certainty that I can tell you that whatever trauma they experienced, they were given a chance to experience that however they needed to. This won’t make sense to many of you but it is the truth of life and death. Many of you have experienced traumas in your life such as accidents that you may have had. Many of you have the experience of almost watching it in slow motion as if you were outside of yourselves. And some of you experience it as though every second is happening with great purpose and awareness. We all choose to experience these things as suits us and our growth. Would someone choose then to experience great suffering? Yes, for reasons only known to them, they can do that. But we cannot know how these beings, human and animal, experienced it. Each one was individually decided by each individual. We can however send them our loving thoughts for whatever guidance they can use along their way.

Did they put themselves through this to teach us humans anything? The answer to this is again that they could have chosen that but most likely not on the larger scale. The time near and of death is sacred to each being. What they do or don’t do is completely up to them on their soul’s path. Animals do not exist to teach humans to be better humans. If we do that in the course of our lives, then that is a wonderful thing. Some of us choose to teach and offer wisdom we’ve learned over lifetimes. Whatever our roles, all of us live the lives we do with one ultimate goal, to further the growth of our own souls. Whether animal, human, plant, tree or stone, this is a universal truth.

As we witness these great disasters then, of either man made or natural causes, it is important to look within our own hearts for the love we hold for animals, humanity, the planet and to embrace that love with all of our life force and send it outward to the world. This is what we can do to help. We can look out and see that lives were lost, lives were destroyed, and feel hopeless. Or we can look and see that some lives moved on into spirit, others changed, and understand that we can send our love to those going through those transitions and know it will find them and comfort them. I am in no way minimizing these losses. But I also know that how I view them matters. It matters to those going through these hardships whether they are surrounded by helpless feelings or ones of love and hope.

To our Australian friends, human and animal alike, we send our heartfelt intentions for the flood waters to subside and for life to once again know a sunny day. We send them strength to heal through their losses. We send them love to comfort them in their grief. And we understand that what we send does help the healing. We are all on this planet together. None of us is alone. All of us can reach out and touch another.