>>> 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.
