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 no matter what happens. Once he survives the night, he is considered 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. He knows wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blows and shakes the trees nearby, but he must sit stoically, never removing the blindfold. It is the only way he can become a man in the eyes of his tribe.

After a horrific night, the sun finally appears and he is allowed to remove his blindfold. Only then does he discover that his father was sitting on the stump next to him. The father watches the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We need to realize that as believers, like that boy, we are never alone. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” II Corinthians 5:7