St. Paul of the Cross Retreat Center
Thought for the Day
Last Updated October 04, 2000
A New Twist on "Footprints"
Imagine you and
the Lord Jesus are walking down the road together.
For much of the way,
the Lord's footprints
go along steadily, consistently,
rarely varying the
pace.
But your footprints
are a disorganized stream of zigzags, starts, stops,
turnarounds, circles,
departures, and returns.
.
For much of the way,
it seems to go like this,
But gradually your
footprints come more in line with the Lord's,
soon paralleling His
consistently.
You and Jesus are
walking as true friends!
.
This seems perfect,
but then an interesting thing happens:
Your footprints, that
once etched the sand next to Jesus',
are now walking precisely
in His steps.
Inside His larger
footprints are your smaller ones,
safely you and Jesus
are becoming one.
.
This goes on for many
miles, but gradually you notice another change.
The footprints inside
the large footprints seem to grow larger.
Eventually they disappear
altogether.
There is only one
set of footprints; they have become one.
This goes on for a
long time,
but suddenly the second
set of footprints is back.
.
This time it seems
even worse!
Zigzags all over the
place.
Stops.
Starts.
Deep gashes in the
sand.
A veritable mess of
prints.
You are amazed and
shocked.
Your dream ends.
.
Now you pray:
"Lord, I understand
the first scene with zigzags and fits.
I was a new Christian;
I was just learning.
But you walked
on through the storm and helped me learn to walk with you."
.
"That is correct."
.
"... and when the
smaller footprints were inside of Yours,
I was actually
learning to walk in Your steps; followed you very closely."
.
"Very good. You
have understood everything so far."
.
"... when the smaller
footprints grew and filled in Yours,
I suppose that
I was becoming like you in every way."
.
"Precisely."
.
"So, Lord, was
there a regression or something?
The footprints
separated, and this time it was worse than at first."
.
There is a pause as
the Lord answers with a smile in his voice.
"You didn't know?
That was when we danced."
.
To everything there
is a season,
a time for every purpose
under heaven:
A time to weep,
a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and
a time to dance.
.
Ecclesiastes (3:1,4)
.
- Author Unknown
.
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