By Heidi Skarie, Minnesota
One summer morning, I left my house to run some errands. As I drove down Minnetonka Boulevard in a suburb of Minneapolis, I saw a mallard hen in the median strip of the highway. It looked as if she’d been hit by a car but was still alive and flapping her wings. I decided to try to help her.
This stretch of road had a marsh on either side and narrow shoulders, so I drove a little farther until I found a safe place to pull over. I walked back along the road and waited for a break in traffic. When I reached the hen, I didn’t see any visible injuries on her, but I noticed that she couldn’t get up.
I felt a connection to this injured creature of God as I bent to pick her up. She didn’t try to get away but seemed to understand I was trying to help her. Gently I lifted the duck into my arms, carried her to the car, and placed her on the passenger seat.
I knew that the veterinary office where I took my cat and dog was licensed to take care of injured wild animals, so I decided to take the mallard there. As I drove I sang HU, a love song to God. Singing HU uplifts and makes me feel peaceful, and I thought it also might help calm the duck.
A Peaceful Transition
After parking the car at the veterinarian’s office, I looked over at the mallard duck and saw she had died, or translated. In my religion translated means the consciousness of the person or animal is no longer in the physical world and has moved on to a higher plane. While feeling sorry the hen had passed, I was glad she’d gone peacefully in my car instead of in the middle of a busy highway.
I carried her to a wooded area near the veterinarian’s office and set her body down on the grass, under tall trees, near a marsh filled with cattails and turtles. I chose, as a sacred ground for her final resting place, a spot that might be similar to where she’d lived and raised her ducklings .
I wasn’t able to save this mallard hen’s life, but perhaps I’d made things easier for her—another Soul, one of God’s creatures. In prayer I said, “May the blessings be,” an expression that means I surrender the situation to God. After laying the duck’s body to rest, I returned to my car and went on with my errands, feeling grateful that I’d driven by at the right moment to help this mallard duck in her last moments.
God Is Watching
That evening at home, my husband said, “I was driving along Minnetonka Boulevard when I saw some compassionate woman had stopped her car to help an injured mallard. When I drew closer, I was surprised and delighted to see it was you.”
“How interesting that you drove by just then,” I said. “I didn’t see you.”
Sometimes I feel like my small daily actions don’t amount to much—such as when I pick up trash while on a walk, help a turtle across the road, babysit my grandkids, or help my ninety-seven-year-old mother. But when I think back on that day with the mallard duck, I realize quiet acts do touch others—animals, birds, and people.
As we touch others we’re learning about divine love and unfolding spiritually. This experience with the mallard duck served as a reminder to act with kindness at all times, as if God is watching me.
—Photos above by Heidi Skarie; photo below by Allen Anderson
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A Contemplation Seed
You are invited to reflect on the spiritual messages in this story by contemplating on this passage from The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, Books One & Two:
It is in the small events, such as goodness in the daily things of life, being kind to a child, speaking softly to those who can be hurt easily, noninjury to a fellow creature, and the giving of one’s self to others who are without the essentials of life, that spiritual unfoldment can be found.
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Is there a small goodness in daily life you could do for a person or animal today? How might it contribute to your spiritual unfoldment?
The story about the mallard duck touched my heart ❤️ because I have a. Fondness for ducks , I had several pet ducks in college and their had ducklings and appreciate your kindness to the duck when it was stinky
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Barb. It always brightens my day to see ducks.
Je suis très contente de l’amour donner aux canards Baraka Bashad.
Thank you, Holly, for your thoughts. Acts of kindness do change the world around us in a positive way.
Yes, our small acts of kindness to all creatures do have a ripple effect that uplifts all life, whether noticed or not. I’ve found that I usually end up being the greatest benefactor as a greater Love comes rolling back.
I had a very similar experience as Heidi’s with a goose who’d been hit on a busy highway several years back. As other geese honked loudly in their upset, I pulled over and walked back to pick her up. I held her in my lap as I drove, which was no easy matter. She was completely at ease as love filled us both. When I arrived at my destination, I too took the body which she’d given up and laid it under a peaceful evergreen and gave the ancient blessing, May the Blessing Be!
Though the encounter happened so many years ago, I still think of it sometimes and how special it was to break the barrier between species and simply To Be Two Beings – Soul to Soul!
Hi Cheryl,
Your experience was very similar to mine. Is special to recognize that animals are Soul and to be with them Soul to Soul during their last moments in this life.
Greetings Heidi
Your story of the hen that you rescued and sang HU, a love song to God, just minutes before she died, or translated gave this precious Soul a moment to rest before Soul moved its consciousness to the Spiritual world from the physical world. This little act of kindness reminded me of my experience today with a co-worker.
As your husband was happy to see a woman who pulled over to help an injured duck and how grateful he was to see such a loving act of kindness, and then realized it was his wife, this blessed him even further.
All the little, acts of kindness we do each day that no one sees brings such a beauty to our world that we ourselves are not aware of and how they may touch hundreds of lives.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful story.