Anti-footprints?

 I was thinking recently about life and suffering.

I thought about being on a difficult journey, possibly alone, in the wilderness, and how it would feel if you thought you were lost with no chance of recovery? And then you prayed for help from God.

What if you then found the strength and resolve to go on in that journey, and this, eventually led to you finding a road and then being found by a passer-by?

 

Does God answer our prayers that way sometimes?

By “that way”, I mean, instead of sending a helicopter to your exact location, he gives us the strength to continue, on our own legs and go the extra mile or hundred miles, despite everything being against us, and our mind, body and spirit beyond exhaustion?

 

And that made me think about the animals and machines we use for transport. How we prefer our own vehicles to reach the goal of our journey, even if the vehicle is old, slow, and inefficient. We actually enjoy the function of our vintage cars (especially if we have restored them) over our modern efficient ones.

And then I thought about my elderly patients (now not too much older than me) and how small steps of recovery are so celebrated, despite their measly appearance.

 

And it made me think that God also celebrates our function even if we are old and relatively worn out. Maybe we are his vintage cars?

 

And that made me think about footprints, and how we could re-imagine that conclusion to that beautiful poem, along the lines of;

 

At those times of only one set of footprints, I was in you, giving you the strength that comes only by faith.