General

Honoring Emily the Cow at The Peace Abbey

Friday, 24 December 2004
12:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Organizer: The Peace Abbey

event info from the article:

METROWEST DAILY NEWSPAPER
In America: 'O come all ye faithful to unwrap Emily'
By Miryam Wiley

Meg Randa remembers a day at the Peace Abbey in Sherborn when an 18-month-old baby was lost and the mom was panicking.

Everyone was moved when the baby was found inside the fence with Emily the cow, who was licking the baby's head right by her feet. Of course the cow could have stepped on the baby, but she didn't.

"Emily was a supreme being," says Randa.

Emily is the cow who jumped over a 5-foot fence, escaped the slaughterhouse and after weeks wondering around Hopkinton, was eventually bought by the Randas, the directors of the Peace Abbey, and brought to live there. Over the years she proved to be more than a cow and became a symbol

Now, on Dec. 24, even if some of us are worn out and over spent in more ways than one, there is chance of renewal at a ceremony to honor Emily the Cow on the grounds of the Peace Abbey.

The event is scheduled at noon Christmas Eve day. A bronze statue to honor the cow that lived there for eight years will be unveiled on what will be called the Sacred Cow Animals Rights Memorial.

Emily's statue was created by Lado Goudjabidze, from Long Island City, N.Y.,the same artist who sculpted both the Gandhi and the Mother Theresa statues at the Abbey. The new statue will be delivered from the foundry on Dec. 20. This date commemorates the ninth anniversary of the very day the Randas read about her in the paper and decided it was their call to adopt her.

Christmas Eve was the night the Randas were actually able to persuade her to trust them and get into a trailer that brought her home.

"To most people it probably seems absurd that we are bringing a statue of a cow to the Peace Abbey, but Emily had a very deep connection with people," said Meg Randa. "She looked you in the eye and changed you. It is hard to put it into words."

"Erecting a statue of a cow surely seems strange if you didn't know Emily, but not all that odd if you understand the significance of the Sacred Cow in the East," he said. "In the West, it is customary to see statues of saints at Abbeys. We at the Peace Abbey know something about Emily that others don't, but soon will. The animal kingdom, to no surprise, produces saints too, that is if we don't kill and eat them first."

The statue of Emily will be 6 feet tall and 8 feet long. Placed over Emily's grave on the grounds of the Peace Abbey, this memorial will match the style of the existing Peace Memorial, with many quotes of note from famous vegetarians, such as Henry David Thoreau: "I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals."

If Mother Teresa traveled from India to visit the Abbey in '88, it seems strangely appropriate that a few years later Emily would come along. She and Mother Teresa were highly evolved beings from two different species from the same part of the world. The Sacred Cow Memorial will bless people who visit beyond anything they could imagine. That is if they're evolving toward greater compassion, love and peace in their lives.

Location:
The Peace Abbey Two North Main Street Sherborn, MA 01770

Directions: From Boston: Mass Turnpike 90 West to Route 95 South. Exit on Route 16 West. Follow 16 to Sherborn. At T intersection, turn left onto Route 27 South (still 16 West). The Peace Abbey is 1/4 mile down on 27 on the left before fork in road. Turn into drive at red brick building with stone pillars, which is the Abbey Conference Center. The Peace Abbey Guest House is the stucco building at the end of driveway.

From New York: Interstate 95 North to 495 North. Exit at 109 East. Take 109 to 27 North in Medfield, MA. Take left on 27 and continue over Charles River into Sherborn. Take right into driveway just beyond first stop sign. Pacifist Memorial and Gandhi statue are visible at stop sign. The Peace Abbey Guest House is located behind the Conference Center (red brick building).

URL: http://www.peaceabbey.org/news/Emilynews.htm