This poem from Meister Eckhart causes me to acknowledge some people in my life who have been a kind monk to me.

Love Does That

All day long a little burro labors, sometimes
with heavy loads on her back and sometimes just with worries
about things that bother only
burros.

And worries, as we know, can be more exhausting
than physical labor.

Once in a while a kind monk comes
to her stable and brings
a pear, but more
than that,

he looks into the burro’s eyes and touches her ears

and for a few seconds the burro is free
and even seems to laugh,

because love does
that.
Love frees.
– Meister Eckhart

Nancy Dunkerley
Spiritual Ministries Institute