Run little boy...Run!

When i worked in Zambia, my route to work, went through a high density suburb.
The kind that are built close to the road for all to see.

On one such occasion, I witnessed an event which I now find relevantly telling.

A young boy had just commited what I can only assume was a punishable offense
and there, right outside his home, right next to the road, A woman, who I can only assume was His mother, was issuing said punishment by beating him with a broom she had been using to sweep the yard, hoping, I can only imagine, to brush away all his sins as it had the leaves in the yard.

Everytime she hit him, he would be overwhelmed by the pain and run away BUT not out of reach. His mother, purely out of love ofcourse, would catch up and issue more CORRECTIONAL PERSUASION.

As I drove passed I wondered why this boy just didn't run away, then it dawned on me: That was his mother whom he LOVED so much he COULDN'T even COMPREHEND.
She too, LOVED him to the extent that she believed her actions, though harsh, could be separated from her love or worse still, perhaps, taken as a show of love.
The boy was at home, where he BELONGED and as such could not run anywhere as he would soon have to return.
And this, was all on display, for all to see, interpret and have an opinion about.

Today, I find this story relevant, in love, especially of those that hurt us and continue to do so.
I hope, someday, like the little boy, we will use these 'beatings' to shape our lives and soon, grow enough to love, leave,let live and find a new home.
'Far from the madding crowds ignoble strife'