Footprints in the sand

“One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."

Such a powerful poem. The first time I read it, I had no idea the direction the poem was going and I was pissed at The Lord for deserting the person of the poem at his lowest.

Wow, what kind of poem is this - this isn’t inspirational at all!

But the twist at the end is just perfect. Or is it? Continue reading, please.

The poem provides comfort for the reader that The Lord (or Whomever you believe in) is always with you. Always! He is not always actively carrying you, but He is by your side at all times, guiding you, inspiring you, encouraging you. And then when things get too burdensome for you, he carries you and helps you.

It is important to note that he is not always carrying you. You need to do most of the work in life. You choose the direction of your life. He can advise you, but, ultimately, you have free will to do what you please. But we are bound to make bad decisions along the way, and life will provide sporadic tempests varying in strengths. We are mere humans. We are limited in what we can withstand. But He is all powerful and can do anything.

As I write this, it got me thinking. Forget what I just wrote. That's right - block it out of your mind. The Lord does not walk beside us. He lives within us. Or maybe it is that he walks beside our spirit within our physical body. I know, I know, now I am getting too deep.

My point is that the poem insinuates that the Lord - and, again, I am using that word for any Higher Power you may believe in - will swoop you up and carry you through tough times. You can just sit back and let Him do the heavy lifting, according to the poem.

But that is wrong. The Lord may help us and point us in the right direction, but we still need to walk on our own two feet. Or, maybe more accurately, during difficult times, we need to crawl and stagger. Again, we have free will. We still need to make the decisions. We need to do the work to get back on our feet, like a boxer who gets knocked down in the ring. Nobody is allowed to come in the ring and lift him back up. The boxer needs to decide if he wants to get back up.

This article went in a total different direction than I anticipated. I began the post by thinking I was going to write about how beautiful and inspirational the poem is. Instead, it got me thinking, that the poem is, well, wrong! That is the beauty of not taking things at face value, and, instead, putting some thought into things. It is good to think for yourself and not allow others to think for you.

In closing, the more accurate depiction of the footsteps in the sand should always be the one set of footprints in the sand, which represents us mere mortals walking through life. However, instead of having the two sets of footprints at various times, maybe they should just have lines in the sand which represent, during difficult times, us being knocked off our feet, and having to crawl on our knees until we get back on our feet.

What stage of your life are you at now? Are you walking or crawling?