Blindfolded
Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?
His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him
alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not
remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine
through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night,
he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience,
because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy
is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts
must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do
him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, but he
sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only
way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night, the
sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he
discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had
been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.
We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly
Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When
trouble comes all we have to do is reach out to Him.
