Slate Magazine - Rural Life

What my 3,000-pound steer has taught me about faith.

Jon Katz — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:55:13 EST

I've attended churches, Quaker Meetings, synagogues, and Buddhist temples. I've taken yoga and read Joseph Campbell, Thomas Merton, C.S. Lewis, St. Augustine, and the Bible. I pray often. But I had an unsettling realization recently, which is that my steer Elvis already has the spiritual equanimity I have been seeking. He is comfortable within himself, has no discernible anxiety, rolls with life as if it were a gentle wave, is uncomplaining, generous and loyal to his mate, and trusts and accepts people.

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When a dog falls in love with a ram.

Jon Katz — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:55:44 EST

I cleared my throat and adopted my most paternal voice. "Lenore," I said, "This isn't going to work.

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My three goats won't stop jeering me, and I love them for it.

Jon Katz — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:01:07 EST

Whenever I walk out to the barn to do the chores, I am hooted and jeered. By my goats.

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Most of my sheep are, well, sheep. But then there's No. 57.

Jon Katz — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 07:02:31 EST

A few weeks after my new helper, Annie, started working at the farm, I noticed a change in the way my sheep were behaving. Usually, when they see my border collie Rose, they bunch together and wait, resignedly, to be shuttled to one pasture or another. But now they were rushing up to me and to other people. Sometimes they sniffed at my pockets. A couple of times they ran right around or over the shocked Rose, and it took some nipping and charging to set them straight.

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My favorite chicken is dead!

Jon Katz — Mon, 4 Jun 2007 16:28:27 EST

A few months ago, I wrote about Henrietta, my curious, aggressive, sociable hen. When I drove the tractor to the road in front of the house today, I found her dead body. I've had a farm long enough to know that you don't cry for a chicken, but Henrietta was an unusual hen. She terrorized my border collie Rose and loved to sit for hours on the backs of my steer Elvis, the donkeys, and sometimes even the sheep. She cleaned their coats of dirt, bugs, and ticks.

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