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Philip Yancey tells about an African safari he was on where he saw an old momma giraffe taking care of her offspring. Shortly after he was born, she went over & kicked her offspring, and it looked like she was really hurting her baby. Then she did it again.

Each time, the little giraffe would get up on his wobbly legs & try to walk. Still she continued kicking him. Finally, he got up pretty rapidly and ran away from her kicks.

Phil turned to his guide & asked, "Why does the mother giraffe do that?"

The guide answered, "The only defense the giraffe has is its ability to get up quickly and to out run its predator. If it can’t do that, it will soon die."

Yancey said that while it looked like it was a cruel thing, it was really the most loving thing the mother could do for her offspring.

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