MOTHER LOVE
I was driving near my home when I spotted a beautiful sight: A mother deer and two fawns, ambling along the roadway. First the fawns were following their mother, then the mother was watchfully shepherding them along from behind. The fawns clearly had the physical strength to be on their own, but the mother was still teaching, worrying, doing her best to ensure their survival. I thought again about how much we can learn from watching nature, from thinking about how much animals are like us.
I know that there are those who disagree with me, who argue that we shouldn't try to relate human virtue to animal behavior but I can't escape the feeling that the natural behavior of animals demonstrates traits we should emulate. The mother deer couldn't articulate her fears about her offspring but she seemed to me to have fears. She couldn't explain why she moved between me and the fawns but she did so. If I was dangerous, she did exactly the right thing to protect the fawns as best she could.
As I've written before, most if not all of us desire to protect the young, But many of us are distracted by other things: Work, hobbies, social life, a myriad of duties and desires. And maybe the mother deer could have been distracted in her care of her fawns, maybe something would have allowed the fawns out of her sight, away from her protection. But in the moment I saw her, the fawns were her only interest and that's the lesson I'd like to draw. If we single-mindedly think of protecting the young, we will benefit: The most important thing for all of us, the thing that enables us to confidently look to eternity, is the care of our young. Our survival, now and forever, is tied to the young.
I know that protection of the young can prove over-bearing, stifling, self-defeating. Over-protectiveness leads to weakness and conflict, to inability of the young to function as adults. But I would risk erring on the side of over-protection to avoid hurting the young. I would risk appearing old and fearful to keep young people from hurting themselves. If you're older, think first of the young. If you're young. accept that we want only to protect you, to see you safe from harm. We have more tools of protection than the mother deer. Let's use them as attentively as she does.
6-26-00
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