<p>The Alphabet of Ben Sira, composed between 700 and 1000 CE, doesn't shy away from the crudest questions about the natural world. When Nebuchadnezzar asked why donkeys urinate on one another's urine and smell each other's dung, Ben Sira had a theological answer ready.</p>
<p>Back at creation, the donkey looked around and noticed something unfair. Every creature seemed to have some special benefit, some purpose that brought it dignity. But the donkey? The donkey just worked. Generation after generation, donkeys hauled burdens, carried loads, and had nothing to show for it. So the donkey went to the horse and the mule and said, "We toil endlessly and have no benefit at all."</p>
<p>Together, the three beasts of burden prayed to God for some kind of reward. God's answer was... unusual. "When the time comes that your urine flows like rivers and your excrement smells like perfume," God told them, "then I will give you your reward."</p>
<p>So the donkeys keep checking. They sniff and inspect, generation after generation, hoping that maybe this time the promise has been fulfilled. It hasn't. Not yet. But they keep waiting. It's a deeply funny little story, but there's something oddly poignant about it too - the idea of creatures patiently waiting for a divine promise that hasn't arrived yet, performing the same ritual of hope every single day.</p>