Here’s a short and wonderful story from Bernardine of Siena about an Abbot, Monk, and Donkey.

One day an Abbot asked a young monk to get his little donkey and travel with him. The Abbot was riding on the donkey, and the young man walked alongside. As they walked, they came to a place of deep mud. Someone said, “Look at that. That Abbot is selfishly riding on the donkey and making the monk walk in the deep mud. How uncaring. He should let that youth ride instead.”

When the Abbot heard it, he immediately got off the donkey and let the young monk ride to appease onlookers. As the three continued, someone said, “Just look at that crazy old man. The young man could easily make it through the mud without fatigue, but he rides while the old man walks. Both could easily ride on that donkey.”

To appease the onlookers, the Abbot got back on the donkey and rode with the monk, both on the donkey’s back. As they went farther, someone said, “Look at that! That poor animal carrying two grown men. They don’t care about that animal at all! I’m surprised it doesn’t fall over dead! Those men are terrible.”

The Abbot got off immediately and made the young monk get off as well to limit future criticism. They traveled on, both walking beside the donkey. Then someone pointed at them and said, “Look at those two ridiculous men. They walk, struggling in the deep mud, alongside a perfectly good donkey. Why aren’t they riding? They are crazy.”

When they arrived home, the Abbot said to the young man, “Did you see that? No matter what we did or how we traveled, people complained. Here’s the lesson: Even with all the good you can do, whatever it is, someone will criticize you. Do what’s right, and don’t worry about what people say.”

Have you ever felt criticized? Have you ever felt that no matter what you do, someone will be upset or criticize you? I hope this parable can help you seek to do what’s right in a culture of criticism. May it bring you peace.

I plan to write about how we can discern what the right thing is in a future post. Be on the lookout!