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By Marie Harrison

For the Clemmons Courier

As my daughter continues to work on learning how to use her arm crutches, things are a bit slower than normal. It takes time to master the pattern and have it become second nature.

As we left physical therapy last week, slowly making our way down a long, narrow hall, I heard another family coming behind us. I nudged my daughter to the side to let this family pass. As they walked by, a mom, dad and young girl, probably no more than 8 or 9 years old, I noticed something unusual. Ever so slowly, with each new step, the girl began to sink into her father’s side. Almost like melting, I watched in slow motion as the young girl slid down, falling softly to the concrete floor with the help of her father, as her body violently erupted into a seizure.

This was obviously not the first time this had happened, neither the girl’s parents nor her therapist were overly concerned, they simply tried to keep her safe and wait it out. My daughter looked up at me, wide eyed, not wanting to stare at the scene unfolding just a few feet away, but also very unsure of what to do next. Would this take minutes to resolve? Longer? 

Rather than standing awkwardly so close by, my daughter chose to begin moving down the hall. As we walked by, the other mother noticed something I didn’t. The young girl’s mother stood near the center of the hall with her hands outstretched, trying her best to offer protection and keep her daughter from accidentally kicking mine. The mother noted that I too had my arms outstretched, something I hadn’t even realized until I looked down. Sure enough, there were my arms held out wide, trying also to offer protection, ready in an instant to catch my daughter should she stumble.

“A mother always protects,” the lady said as she nodded towards my hands and hers.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

As I’ve thought back to this incident and the role of mothers and fathers, especially at Christmas time, I find myself focusing on Jesus’ earthly parents, Mary and Joseph. Here were two young people, instantly thrust into a life-changing, world-altering scenario. Their child would be the Savior of the world, fully human and also fully God. This baby in the manger would be the one who would one day die to save them, but just like the rest of us earthly parents, did they feel the need to try and protect Jesus? Did Mary walk with outstretched arms to keep a toddler Jesus safe? Did Joseph hover just a bit closer as he taught the young boy Jesus how to use tools or knives? Did these earthly parents have the same instinct to protect a child who really needed no protection at all?

While the Bible doesn’t say definitively, I can’t help but think that the answer is “yes.” 

Yes, Mary and Joseph loved Jesus. Yes, Mary and Joseph wanted to protect Him in the same way they protected all their children. And while Mary’s efforts to protect Jesus as he grew may have been futile, it didn’t matter. This urge to protect that all parents seem to have comes from a deeper place, it comes from love. 

Many are quick to quote 1 Corinthians 13: 4 at their weddings, “Love is patient, love is kind,” and while yes, love is both patient and kind, if you keep reading, this verse also says, “love always protects.” 

Love is a fierce emotion, and perhaps no one knows this better than a parent. No matter the situation, no matter how desperate or ill-advised our attempts, no matter the cost, as parents, we always seek to protect. While Mary may not have been able to save Jesus from the cross, she did what she could, when she could. She wrapped her newborn infant, God’s only Son, in swaddling cloths to protect his fragile skin from the manger. She frantically searched to find Jesus He was lost because of a deep-seated need to protect. And most of all, Mary loved.  Just like all of us mothers and fathers, here on Earth. And while love is patient and kind, it also protects. Always. From a manger in Bethlehem to a hallway outside of physical therapy.  And at Christmas time especially, we celebrate the love and protection from God our Father as He sent His only Son down to Earth to teach us all what true love really means.