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, and shook
his stump, 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, God is watching
over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to
do is reach out to Him. If you liked this story, pass it on. If not, you
took off your blindfold before dawn.
Moral of the story
Just because you cannot see God, doesn’t mean he is not there. We need to
walk by faith, not by sight.

 

 

Adapted from an email i received recently.