“Footprints in the Sand” Revisited— A Story

Child look backed along the shoreLINE. The sandy beach appeared to extend to the horizon and beyond.

“Hmmm….” said Child.

“Yes?” asked the Companion.

“Oh, it’s nothing. … I mean it is not important.”

“A lot of unimportant things are still worth saying,” replied the Companion.

“Well, looking back I see our footprints. They continue as far as I can see,” said Child.

“We have walked a long ways,” agreed the Companion. “But there is still farther to go.”

“I… well… I thought that maybe you would have carried me at times. I don’t have the strength and endurance that you have. You could have carried me. But looking back, you did not carry me, even once.”

“I don’t really do that sort of thing,’ replied the Companion.

They continued to walk along the shoreline in silence. The vast ocean to the right of Child and the Companion seemed endless with waves crashing and pulling away land bit by bit in places, and adding land in others. The changes were imperceptible but inevitable… unstoppable.

Several minutes passed in silence. This silence was not unpleasant, but a question hung in the air between them, not quite spoken— until it was.

“Why?” asked Child.

“Why?” responded the Companion.

“Why don’t you carry me? Not all the time of course. But I get tired. The journey is long. I need your help sometimes.”

The Companion stretched his arm backwards and said, “Look more closely.”

As Child looked back, he could see places where the walk appeared to stop, and there were indentations in the sand of both sitting down or lying down.

“See,” said the Companion. “When you needed rest, I stopped with you. You you were stubborn and refused to continue forward, I waited. When you were despondent and wondering about stopping the journey, I stayed with you and encouraged you to continue when you were ready.”

This explanation satisfied Child… for awhile.

“I appreciate that. I don’t think I could make this journey alone. But really, if you carried me sometimes, we would make it a lot faster. We must be way behind schedule by now, rght?”

The Companion smiled and after a minute or two responded. “I don’t carry you because I care about you far more than I care about our schedule. We will arrive where we need to be when we need to be there.”

Child already knew this somehow… but hearing it made the journey feel more pleasant somehow. Walking like this is at least as important as the destination.

Sandpipers darted back and forth along the water’s edge, as the ocean roared and the breeze off the water cooled the two of them. Child and the Companion continued walking along the shore that seemed to stretch to the horizon.

Of course, many love the poem “Footprints in the Sand.” It describes the companion as one who carries the poet when the poet is too weak or tired. I have no problem with that imagery.

There is also the somewhat humorous sequel to it— “Butt Prints in the Sand.” It takes the imagery of the companion carrying the poet, but then getting frustrated at the poet’s laziness and stubbornness. I suppose I have nothing against this imagery either.

When I read “Footprints,” I see a different thing. I see the Companion as being more concerned with schedule and accomplishment than with the Poet. This attitude is made far more explicitly in “Butt Pints.” I model my story off of the Flight of Elijah in I Kings 19. Elijah ran from the City of Samaria out of fear and burnout. He finally collapses somewhere near Beersheba. At this point he crawls under a Broom tree and asks to die. It is at this point we find that God was with him on his whole trip. An angel appears who feeds him, gives him drink, encourages him to rest. Only after he was fully restored that the angel tells him he better get moving again because he still has a long way to go.

In that story, God did not carry Elijah. God also did not complain (“dropping him on his butt”) for being tired and emotionally drained. Rather, God waited on him, comforted and restored him. Eventually, God encouraged Elijah to continue. The destination… the end task… is important, but Elijah is more important than that .

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