The Cherokee  Indian

  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.



Moral of the story: 

Just because you can't see  God,
 
Doesn't mean He is not  there.
 
"For we walk by faith, not by  sight."

If you liked this story, pass it  on.

If not, you took off your  blindfold before dawn.
 
--
"In God We Trust"
Cindi