Bayasakh Oyunbat
Some say that our life on earth is based on love. In fact, when you look into how a person is born into this world and grows over time, that sounds right, because we are all connected with one another through love while taking care of and giving help to one another. We can find various forms of love as in the relationship between a boyfriend and a girlfriend, between friends, between parents and children, and between brothers and sisters. Besides, there are people who love money or their possessions.
Then, what is the essence of all forms of love? I personally thought love sprang from selfish motives. I thought, ‘If I want to protect someone, it is because I need them, and if I want to be with someone, it is because it makes me happy and joyful.’ All men are selfish in nature, so I personally came to my own conclusion that even love is for selfish reasons.
However, one day, while seeing a photo, I came to have a question. It was a photo of a mother roe deer willingly giving her life to two leopards. The photographer explained that the roe deer could easily save her life as she was far away from the leopards, but she willingly gave her life to the leopards. The reason was because she knew that her baby wouldn’t make an escape from the leopards. So the mother roe deer chose to give her own life instead of that of her baby, and the photo showed the baby roe deer running away from the leopards.
As I had thought that love was also for selfish motives, I wondered why the mother roe deer sacrificed herself. If one dies, he or she will lose everything, including his or her children, family, friends, wealth, and reputation, and nothing beneficial returns to him or her in the end. However, why did the mother roe deer choose to save her baby’s life instead of her own?
I was able to get the answer to the question only after I realized the love of Heavenly Mother. Mother’s love is special. Every man and animal has self-love, but mothers have wondrous love for their children, which goes beyond our imagination. Mothers willingly sacrifice themselves for their children even at the risk of their own life in order to give benefits to their children. It is special love that Heavenly Mother planted in every mother on earth.
As it is written, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us” (1 Jn 3:16), our God has planted His sincere love in us by giving us all that He has through His sacrifice. I truly give thanks to Heavenly Father and Mother for allowing me to realize this, even though I was considerate of only myself in this loveless world.