Two Stumps

God seems to desert me whenever I fear

I asked Him if He could explain

He shared then a story and I shed a tear

Its message was simple and plain

“A boy and his father, a forest of trees

Tonight he’s becoming a man

There’s no one to watch him, there’s no referee’s

He’ll stay there all night per the plan

The boy is blindfolded, then put on a stump

He’ll stay here alone through the night

He’s bound to hear noises or maybe a “thump”

Unsure if it’s something to fight

He sits in the dark often tempted to peek

He hates being left on his own

His tribe does this test for the answers they seek

The tribe needs to know if he’s grown

He cannot depart ‘til the breaking of dawn

So he tries to stay quiet and still

With all the night noises his courage is gone

From the howls and occasional shrill

Who knows what the creatures are lurking about

Or what if there’s someone who’s mad

Who knows if he’ll panic and loudly cry out

Unaware of the courage he had

But then comes the morning, how happy he’ll be

The sun’s finally starting to climb

He pulls off his blindfold, astonished to see

His father was there all the time”

God ended His story, there’s tears in my eye

I knew what the message implied

Whatever the issue, my Father’s nearby

He’s always been there by my side