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EVENING THOUGHT
APRIL 2, 2004
Courage
does not always roar.
Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day
saying,
"I will try again tomorrow".
BY PAULETTE TUERS
*** *** *** *** *** ***
Golden Footprints.
Once
upon a time, there was a young woman named Sarah who lived
in the village below the Mountain of the Golden Footprints.
She
was feeling very sad and depressed. Nothing or no one could
make her happy. She had been very unhappy and depressed for
a long time. What is the use of going on, she asked?
Nothing anyone said seemed to make a difference.
Her
best friend went to visit Sarah and told her the story of
the Mountain of the Golden Footprints.
"It
is a special place whereas the sun sets you can look out
over the city and see sparkling golden footprints on the
places and people where you have made a difference."
"But
I haven't made any difference in anyone's life, she said.
There won't be any golden footprints for me to see. So why
should I bother to go here?"
"But", said her friend, "If you don't see any golden
footprints, there is a special village on the other side of
the mountain. That is a place for all those people who
haven't made a difference. It is comfortable and very
pretty and there you can be happy. So you see, you have
other options besides not going on with your life. If you
went to the village on the other side of the mountain, I
would miss you, but it would be better than your not being
alive. You have nothing to lose."
So
Sarah decided to give it a try. After all, she only wanted
to do something. She could not go on the way she was.
Besides, although she was sure she would not see any golden
footprints, she had a little glimmer of hope that going
there would make a difference in her life. The village on
the other side of the mountain also sounded like it could be
a place where she could be happy.
She
walked up the path to the top of the Mountain of the Golden
Footprints.
It
was a long walk and sometimes very difficult, but she had
made the decision to go to the top and continued on,
although sometimes she just wanted to stop climbing and curl
up and cease to exist. She reached the top and came to the
lookout point. She was greeted by a woman called Faith who
watched over the Mountain of the Golden Footprints.
Sarah sat on a rock at the top of the mountain and looked
out over her village far below. Although the sun was not
setting yet, she felt inside as though she were looking out
over her life. She could see her house and the house of her
friend, the house of her parents, her school, and many
places from her childhood. She remembered many things as
she looked out over these places, some sad and some happy.
And as she was thinking about her life, the sun began to
set. She did not really pay any attention since she did not
expect to see any golden footprints. But soon a golden
twinkling light began to appear in the park in the middle of
the village. She still did not believe it could possibly be
a Golden Footprint.
"Look", Faith said excitedly, "There is you first Golden
Footprint!"
"But
how could that be?" asked Sarah. "I don't ever remember
anything I did in the park that could have possibly made a
difference."
"That is my department", answered Faith. "I have watched
people make Golden Footprints from this mountain top for
many years. I remember all the Golden Footprints
happenings. One day a long time ago, when you were a little
child, you went laughing through the park. There was a man
sitting there who had just left his wife and child over a
silly argument. He heard your laughter and missed his child
so much that he returned to this family and lived with them
happily ever after."
"Well, that was kind of accidental. I certainly didn't know
I had done that", said Sarah. As she finished speaking,
another golden sparkling footprint appeared on the house of
her friend.
"Well, you have loved your friend very much. Remember when
she was very sick? You went to see her and brought her
flowers and stayed with her and talked many hours and you
held her hand. If you had not done that, she would not have
survived'.
"But
how could that be?", asked Sarah. I'm not a doctor. I do
not give medicine. How could I have saved her life?"
"The
doctor gave her good medicine, but you gave her hope. You
gave her strength and courage, so that her body could make
the medicine work."
And
as she finished speaking, the valley below was aglow with
Golden Footprints. There was one on the school where her
smile and love for learning had inspired a fellow student to
stay in school and become a great philosopher. There was
one over a tree that she had planted in the yard of her
house, and one over the flowers that she had planted. There
was one over the place where her stubbornness had convinced
the King that the village needed a smoother road for
travelers, and he had smiled at her outspokenness and feisty
nature.
There was a footprint right on top of the roof of her
house. That was where she had taken her children one night
to watch the stars. There was one over the pub in the
village. There was where she had met her husband and where
they had fallen in love.
"I
had forgotten all those things," said Sarah. "I was so
depressed that I only remembered the sad things and not the
good things. I guess I have made a difference."
"And
you will in the future", said Faith. "There are stars to
show your grandchildren and a birthday to share with your
friend. And your husband needs a romantic evening at the
pub."
Sarah sat for a long time until the sun had set and the
Golden Footprints disappeared and the lights of the village
were lit in the streets and homes below and flickered, not
as Golden Footprints, but as tiny footprints of fireflies.
Soon
Sarah would start the climb down the mountain, guided by the
tiny lights below.
Sarah smiled and thanked Faith. She started on her way down
the mountain and knew that someday she would tell others
about the Mountain of the Golden Footprints and make a
difference in their lives too.
Always remember you DO make a difference to many people
whose lives you touch every single day. .. .. including
me. Me, always remember, ME... you have made a footprint on
my heart.
~ Author Unknown ~
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May you be blessed today.
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher
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