A rite of passage

This is the legend of the cherokee Indian youths' rite of passage. It is said a young boys' father would take him out into the woods blindfolded and would leave him there throughout the night. The boy is required to sit on a stump in the woods throughout the night and is not to remove his blindfold until the rays of the sun shines through it. The young boy is all by himself and he can not cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night he has become a MAN. He must not share his experience with any of the other boys for each one must have their own experiences and each one must come into his own manhood. The young boy is terrified. He hears all kinds of noises in the night and the beasts are all around him. He is afraid that even some human will hurt him. The wind begins to blow the grass beneath him and it shakes the stump  that he sits upon. But, He sits there stoically, never removing the blindfold. It is the only way he can become a man. Hours and hours pass and finally his horror ends. The night sounds disappear and he feels the warmth of the sun upon his chilled and aching skin. It is then that he realizes the morning has come. He has made it through the night. He removes his blindfold. It is then that he sees his father sitting upon the stump next to him. His father had been sitting there with him the entire night lovingly watching over and protecting him.   We, like the young boy,are never alone... Even when we do not 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.