Give it a Nudge

In A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond tells about the birth of a giraffe:

The baby giraffe’s front hooves and head emerge first. A few minutes later the plucky newborn is hurled forth, falls ten feet, and lands on its back. Within seconds, he rolls to an upright position with his legs tucked under his body. From this position he considers the world for the first time and shakes off the last vestiges of the birthing fluid from his eyes and ears.

The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling head over heals.

When it doesn’t get up, the intense process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is momentous. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts…Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.

Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up.

In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd, where there is safety. Lions, hyenas, leopards, and wild hunting dogs all have an appetite for young giraffes. They’d devour it, too, if the mother didn’t teach her calf to abruptly stand.

We arise after a trial, only to be knocked down again by the next. God helps us remember how it was that we got up the last time, urging us to always be alert and to walk under the safety of His protection.