FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND

This seems to be the week for my favorite collection of writings. Here is another which you may or may not have read before. It too, like 'Desiderata' has an interesting history.

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND

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 in the sand,
is when I carried you."


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History, as mentioned on the website footprintsonthesand.com:

Footprints in the Sand has been seen in print by people the world over since the late 1940's. All that time no author has been credited with this immortal work, only 'Author Anonymous' has appeared at the bottom. This web site was created to bring to light the story behind 'Footprints in the Sand' and its author Mary Stevenson (Zangare).

For many years handwritten copies were distributed by Mary to those who needed something to give them comfort at a low point in their lives. It was sometime after this that friends of Mary saw it in print and wondered why she wasn't given credit for writing it. An attorney at that time told her that it would be very hard to prove her the author since it had been used by many publishers of religious materials and greeting cards. Mary wrote 'Footprints' in 1936 when she was very young and knew nothing of copyrighting. Discouraged she didn't pursue it any further.

In 1984 while cleaning out the garage to prepare to move from her house, in a small suitcase, among her other poems, she rediscovered a very old handwritten copy that she thought was lost. It was one of the copies Mary had made and dated 1939, just three years after she wrote the original. Later that year the U.S. copyright office awarded her a copyright for 'Footprints in the Sand' 48 years after it was written. It was another 11 years before her handwritten copy was authenticated by a forensic specialist as to its age.

I hope you enjoy the beauty of the thought, and the vividness of the picture created by these words,

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.