Where Our Beliefs Begin

Remember that cheeky ball of grey fur with a pink nose we named Ten Four? The tiny kid found at a truck stop? Well, that same little fighter has paid the kindness forward to Six Eight. Six Eight was found somewhere along the humming stretch of the Hume Freeway between Albury and Melbourne.

Three hundred kilometres of white lines and thunderous wheels. His lifeless mumma lay nearby.

The only marker of where he’d come from, what he’d already lost, and what he would have become.

How many vehicles sped past before one finally stopped, we’ll never know. But someone did as they chose heart over hurry.

What would you have done?

While they were not equipped to care for him, they were equipped to feel. And sometimes, that is enough to change everything.

Sanctuary took it from there. And Six Eight landed here.

There is a quiet nobility imbued in goats—even the tiniest ones. Six Eight carried it, even as his body trembled with fear. He was fragile, lice-riddled, hungry and confused. Though his instincts whispered run, his hooves hesitated.

And then, as if on cue, in trotted Ten Four. Calm. Confident. Certain. A little goat, world wise for his few months. A gentle touch of his nose, like a magic wand: “You’re safe now, little buddy. These really are the good ones.”

That was all it took for Six Eight to lean into kindness—to give us a second chance.

And we will not let him down.

We’ll hold him. We’ll heal him. We’ll simply let him be.

Because over and over, in these moments, when we meet animals in their vulnerability, we are given the opportunity to rise. To remember who we were, before the noise of the world crept in. Before we learned to overlook the suffering our choices made.

The Six Eights of this world invite us back. To the space where animals were our friends. Where nature was a playground and not an exploitable resource. Where kindness was not questioned—it just was.

With his coarse grey coat and trembling heart, Six Eight reminds us of our hidden tenderness. And maybe, just maybe, he’s leading us home—just as we did for him.

To the place where our beliefs begin.