Yesterday evening I received a phone call from my across-the-street neighbor. She wanted to give us some home-made rolls, fresh baked. Of course, I couldn’t resist. So, I put on shoes, grabbed Jack in my arms–wrapped in a blanket–and headed out. I didn’t even pause to consider our front porch stairs and the effects of the recent (that day) winter weather. As I stepped on the first stair, my feet went out from under me. I grabbed the railing to stop my fall, but to no avail, I still fell. I landed three stairs down. My heart raced. I looked at Jack, still cradled in my arms, as he let out a huge baby shriek. I then examined him from head to toe…not one scrape or bump or potential bruise did I find on his fairly small, 12 week old, newborn body. I did, as one does, praise the Lord.
Some how, during the fall, my maternal instincts kicked in; somehow, I was able to contort and twist my body so that I was the one who absorbed the fall–between me elbow and me bum–and protected my baby. I didn’t think about it…it just happened. I have often wondered what I would do should I slip down the stairs carrying one of my babies…I have never been able to come up with a good “exit” plan. But, lo and behold, in that very real moment, love for my child poured forth un-summoned and I took the entire fall with my body.
This experience leads me to an episode of Heroes I watched last night (“It’s Coming”, aired 11/17). In this episode, Sylar (former villain turned sort-of-good-guy) interacts with Elle–an electric-current-throwing, scorned woman–who is chained up in a room. We’ve recently found out that they have a “past“, which leaves Sylar having “love” for her and assuming she would feel similarly. As he walks in, he approaches her. However, she is furious at him for having killed her father (earlier in the series), and lights him up with a good dose of electric current. He recovers, he’s self-healing, and continues to move closer and closer to her. She yells out, “I will kill you…I swear to God, I will kill you!” with such fury and rage. He responds, “I understand…yo
u need to let it out…” He’s interrupted by her electrifying him with massive electrical currents. She stops, and he continues, “The anger…the betrayal…you can take it out on me…I can take it all…” And she does. She let’s her electric currents rip and then she collapses to the floor, exhausted. At the end of this exchange, Sylar will release her from her chains and bondage, and she will be, internally, healed of her pain and suffering.
In this moment of this Heroes episode, I smelled an aroma of what True Love is, of Christ. Sylar isn’t Jesus; but, as a Christian, I can see that his actions point to Him and His Love. He bore all of Elle’s pain and suffering and anguish; and, he did it out of love. He “took” it so she didn’t have to live with her misery any more. And, in the end he set her free.
As Sylar bore the pain in his body for Elle, I bore the pain in my body for my son when we fell.
And so it is with Christ. He bore our sins, our pain, our misery, our suffering, and our anguish (and anything and everything else). He “took” it all on Himself on the Cross (1 Pet. 2:23-24), because He could take it all and CAN take it all. Thus, in the end, He SET US FREE from bondage (Romans 6:6-8ff).
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3 responses to “Love and Heroes”
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Profound stuff Lauren. That Heroes episode sounds like a good one. The knee-jerk reaction of a parent to protect their child is always an amazingly moving thing.
I remember once when my little brother was about 2 and he fell off of my dad’s boat into the Ohio river, which has quite a current and is basically impossible to see in due to filth. My dad had his back turned at the time, but he swears to this day that he saw my brother fall in. At the sound of my brother’s splash my dad instantly turned around and jumped into the water after him. Seconds later he came up holding my brother by the ankle. How he was able to find him in that water still baffles me. There was no regard for his own safety. There was no decision, no second thought. It was instantaneous. All that mattered was saving his son.
It’s extremely cool what Love moves us to do.
Thanks Lauren.
Awesome story, Sean. I almost cried.