Kick of the donkey
Can understanding emerge?
These two wonderful quotes from donkey-snake couple has a classical message for us. Most of us have heard that often. I leave that aside now.
But interestingly, we can also look at the story from the perspective of the donkey or snake. Often, our stories are from the perspective of the stronger person (or the hunter). I am not saying that we should go and get the kick of the donkey or the bite of the snake.
Kick of the donkey or bite of the snake are part of the life of those animals. It’s not done with any mal-intention. Or from a Jewish-Christian perspective, these are part of the normal actions of those creatures, who were also part of the creation appreciated as good by God in the book of Genesis.
I don’t find it difficult to accept that donkey kicks or that we should be careful not to get that kick. But it’s difficult to accept the kick as a sign of ingratitude or not valuing the other.
The story of donkey and snake bring attention to our relationships. We always look from our perspective, but there is a story (sometimes different or opposite or devilish according to me) from their perspective. In our multi-cultural, pluri-religious society, this ability to look (or at least an attempt to look) from a different perspective is very important.
I am not saying that we should accept their understanding blindly (as relativism). We also don’t understand ourselves as the sole judge of the truth. Or can we try for an understanding that lies somewhere in between relativism and my pride of knowing everything.
