A Fence, A Fawn, and the Gift of Calm
Sam L. Ervin
By Sam L. Ervin
Meher Baba touches the heart in the most unexpected ways.
It was late on Saturday, and I was walking down the driveway to the parking area with two first-time guests.
Unexpectedly on our left, a small group of deer came bounding out of the trees and ran in front of us, headed toward the open gate.
THE HEART GATE at Meher Mount was open, and the trapped fawn was to the left facing the road and stuck between two steel bars. The visitor was sitting outside the gate in front of the young deer quietly calming it down until the deer backed out of the fence and leapt to freedom. Each had calmed the other. (Photo: Cassandra Bramucci, 2018)
The Deer Was Simply Too Big to Fit through the Opening
Suddenly, to our dismay, a fawn tried to go through a small space between two steel bars in the fence. The young deer got stuck halfway. The deer was simply too big to fit through the opening.
He persisted in kicking and pushing and jumping, but to no avail.
We thought maybe we could help by pulling apart the steel bars to create more space. Or even encourage the young deer to back out of the spot.
No, the iron bars were solidly fixed in place. And with our approach, the deer became even more agitated. We immediately backed off.
What to Do?
What to do? I headed back to the workshop to see if we had bolt cutters that where large enough to cut an opening.
Simultaneously, resident caretaker Ellen Kwiatkowski called animal rescue who told her to call fish and game. In her urgency, she crouched on the ground to write that phone number in the dirt as none of us had a pencil and pad handy.
As I walked up the driveway, I had passed a masked third guest who was just leaving.
This guest, who hadn’t been to Meher Mount since 2013, had come to find some peace and calm. She was very stressed about the pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding her own health.
She had hoped that time at Meher Mount would reduce her own agitation. But when she was leaving, she still appeared to be very upset.
We Looked Again Toward the Open Gate & the Fawn
Just as Ellen was dialing fish and game, we looked down toward the gate.
The woman had stopped her car and gotten out. She had taken off her mask – which she’d worn during her entire visit – and was sitting on the ground in front of the deer.
She was very still and talking gently to the fawn. The little deer calmed down and stopped trying to push its body through the fence. Then in an instant, the fawn backed out of the fence and leapt away.
How Did You Do It?
As the woman stood up to leave Ellen called out to her, “How did you do it?”
“I kept telling him ‘calm down, calm down.’ The deer did, and it helped me calm down, too,” she replied. As she headed toward to her car, we heard her say, “That’s the reason I came today.”
We all marveled at Meher Baba’s impeccable timing and the gift of calm that He gave both the young deer and the woman. They helped each other.
DEER often graze at Meher Mount and stop at the fountain for water. (Photo: Juan Mendez, December 2020)