Here’s a touching story sent in be a reader that reminds us of our constant companion:
Indian Fatherhood
Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth’s rite of passage?
His dad takes him into the forest – blindfolded – and leaves him.
He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not take off the blindfold until the rays of the sun shine through it. He is all by himself. 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. Each lad must come into his own manhood.
During the night, the boy was terrified. He could hear all kinds of noise. Beasts were all around him. Maybe even some human would hurt him. The wind blew the grass and it shook his stump.
But he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It was the only way he could become a man.
Finally, after a horrific night, the sound of the night disappeared. He could feel the warmth of the sun. He removed his blindfold.
It was then that he saw his father, sitting on the stump next to him, on watch the entire night.
We are never alone. Even when we don’t know it, our Father is protecting us. He is sitting on the stump beside us.
All we have to do is take off our blindfolds.
It is important to remember that our Father provides us just the right companionship 24/7. It is our job to be gratful for this everpresent gift of love. We need to remember not to have in mind the package this companionship must come in, but to know that it is wrapped in just the precise way we each individually need it to be. Thank you for this lovely story.
Cherokee customs have many spiritual links. One of my favorites involves giving. Sometimes when someone is in need of something or you want to do something nice for them, you get something they need or appreciate and anonymously leave it for them to find in their personal space. This is a great example of unselfishness: when you give expecting nothing in return.
That is a cool practice! Sounds a bit like random acts of kindness.
I’ve also found Navajo practices quite interesting. When someone does something wrong or bad, their 12-step legal system is not as much concerned with punishment as with returning them to “hozho” meaning peace or walking in beauty. Part of the thinking is if they do these things it is not them, but evil, which has put them out of balance with their spirituality and that is what has to be set right.