Cherokee Legend

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, 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.

~Author Unknown~