Jonathan Swift turned our expectations upside down.
In the fourth part of Gulliver's Travels, horses turn out to be intelligent, noble, and honest beings. Humans, on the other hand, are base, greedy, and cruel — driven purely by instinct.
The Houyhnhnms embody the finest equine qualities, as if evolution had brought them to perfection by taking a different path.
The Yahoos look just like us — but they have lost the potential of the human and degraded into slaves of their passions above all else.
Swift paints the animal's ascent and humanity's fall so vividly that one thing becomes clear: the question isn't how much you were given, but what you did with the gift.
If you pay attention, you'll notice how much animals can teach us. How joyful they are to see us. How tirelessly they invite us to play. How patient they are in illness. How readily they forgive, again and again.
You don't have to look far to see how low a human being can fall. Your social media feed overflows with examples every day. And if you're honest enough to look inside your own heart — that can be sobering too.
Let's take one more step and carry this thought further: inside each of us there is simultaneously the potential of the human and the potential of the beast.
Each has an ambivalent nature. When expressed, each can inspire awe or evoke fear. And if you stop demonizing your inner beast, it can give you something no one else in the world can.
A tree reaches for the sun without trying to sever its relationship with the soil.
Perhaps you too were created to become a bridge between heaven and earth.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
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