Random Donkeys…

Yesterday I read: ‘I thought I might be left standing here like O’Donovan’s donkey’. I’d never heard that expression before.

Mr Google told me:

‘To be left ‘like O’Donovan’s donkey’ is an old Anglo-Irish idiomatic phrase meaning to be left waiting endlessly, abandoned in a situation, or left ‘standing here like an idiot’. The phrase taps onto Irish cultural folklore and rural humour, painting a mental picture of a highly patient, neglected, or confused donkey tied up and left waiting by its owner while time passes.’

I asked Mr Google again. He gave me an alternative:

‘The phrase comes from Oliver O’Donovan’s reflections on Christian waiting, where he uses the image of a donkey to describe a creature that doesn’t rush, doesn’t scheme, doesn’t anticipate the next move. A donkey waits because that is what it does: it stands, it bears, it endures, it stays put until the moment of calling arrives.’

Val Doonican used to sing an old Irish song about Delaney’s donkey:

Now Delaney had a donkey that everyone admired
Temporarily lazy and permanently tired
A leg at every corner balancing his head
And a tail to let you know which end he wanted to be fed

It tells the story of a stubborn donkey that’s in a race but refuses to move.

On the local news I learnt that Norwich City Football Club are donating football socks to Massingham Donkey Sanctuary, West Norfolk to help protect donkeys’ legs from painful fly and mite bites. We smile and say, ‘Ahhh…’

I’m musing on donkeys…

…O’Donovan’s, Delaney’s, Massingham’s …in Pinocchio, Winnie the Pooh, Shrek… the Good Samaritan’s donkey, Jesus riding on a donkey

…St Peter writing about ‘Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.’

…That can be stubborn and stupid… cuddly and loveable… useful and hardworking… patient and humble… or can speak God’s words in a human voice.