Not Alone

NEVER ALONE

There is a legend about the "rite of passage" for Cherokee Indians. The father would blindfold his young son, take him into the forest, and leave him there - alone. He is required to sit on a stump the entire night and never take off the blindfold until the first rays of the morning sun shine through the blindfold.

He is alone. He is totally by himself. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he has become "a Man". He cannot tell the other boys of this experience. Each young brave must come into his own manhood.

One particular young brave was entering this rite of passage. He was terrified. He could hear all kinds of noise. Wild beasts were all around him. Maybe some human would hurt him. The wind blew the grass and earth and it shook his stump. But he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could be a man.

Finally, after a terrifying night, the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he saw his father - sitting on the stump next to him - at watch. He had been there the entire night.

We are never alone. Even when we do not know it, our Father is protecting us. Watching us. Watching over us. He is sitting on the stump beside us.

All we have to do is reach out to Him.



"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

"I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you" Deut. 31:6