Sometimes, the most effective way of teaching a lesson is to actually demonstrate what is meant to be learned. A Father knows this
Father and son #Fishing With My Dad" Print and Canvas #sportsart #family Laurie Shanholtzer https://t.co/NfdulcOloO pic.twitter.com/t3jVhjsw4u
— Laurie Shanholtzer (@laurieshan) January 12, 2016
The father blindfolds his son and explains what he must do:
- He must sit on the stump for the whole night.
- He cannot remove the blindfold until morning comes.
- He cannot cry out for help to anyone.
- He cannot tell the other boys about this because, “each lad must come into manhood on his own.”
Determined to become a man, the terrified boy spends the night in the dark forest, surrounded by unfamiliar and frightening sounds.
From the Facebook post:
A father takes his son into the forest, blindfolds him an 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. If you liked this story, pass it on. If not, you took off your blindfold before dawn. Moral of the story: Just because you can’t see God, Doesn’t mean He is not there. “For we walk by faith, not by sight!!!
Finally, after what seems like an eternity, morning comes. When the boy takes off his blindfold he is shocked to see who is sitting next to him.
It is his father; he had spent the entire night on the stump beside him, ensuring that the boy was safe and protected.
“We, too, are never alone,” he says. “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.”
This father taught a very valuable lesson in a way the boy never could have imagined. This is a profound lesson we can all use in life. I know I will.