Whilst the following poem has been re-written by many authors, Mary Stevenson 1936, Margaret Fishback Powers 1964, Carolyn Carty 1963 to mention but a few, I am unsure who wrote this particular version. I am not a religious person, but I do class myself as Spiritual, and whilst the word ‘Lord’ may have different interpretations depending on your viewpoint, this poem has inspirational tones. Anyone who has Faith, Belief and a connection with ‘something’ bigger than ourselves can also feel a kinship to the words within the lines, I certainly do . . .

FOOTPRINTS

One night a man dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord, scenes of his life flashed across the sky. There were two sets of footprints in each scene, his and the Lords. Looking back at the footprints in the sand, he noticed sometimes there was only one set of footprints, and that this happened at the lowest and saddest times of his life.

Bothered, he said to the Lord, “You said, when I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way, yet during my most and troubled days there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand, why, when I needed you most, you would leave me?”

The Lord replied, “My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you saw only one set of footprints, it was then, that I carried you.”

It makes you think about our own ability to survive through difficult times we all experience at some stage or another in our lives. What helps us cope, what gives us the courage and strength to come out the other side? We often go into an ‘auto’ mode because we just cannot comprehend what to do to deal with certain situations, you take it day by day, but there is something giving us strength, hope and ability. It makes you think because no one has a definitive answer; what you think could be just as correct, as real as anyone else’s opinion . . .

Druantia