One type of travelogue is a recounting of places, culture, history and geography. Ours, however, is a personal narrative revealing thoughts and feelings as we make our way through life. I think it’s more of an inner journey interspersed with outward experiences.
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
This morning Beth and I walked on the beach as we do every day before camp begins. Prior to breakfast or coffee, we traverse where the sand meets the sea and gather our thoughts.
Often, I look at our footprints, clear and regularly spaced and think of the old poem, “Footprints in the Sand,” that I discovered while living in Bethany Beach, DE after sophomore year of college:
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
“The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you.”
Mary Stevenson
