Thought for the Day 6/26/2026
Friday Tale ~ Night Ordeal T here is a legend of the Cherokees' rite of passage. To become a man, the boy must go into the forest, where his father blindfolds him and leaves him alone for the entire night. He is told that he must sit there the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He must not cry out for help to anyone. But if he survives the night alone and unable to see, he will have become a man. He must promise that, after he has completed his ordeal, he will not tell the younger boys what he has gone through, because each one must come to manhood entirely on his own. During his ordeal, the boy is naturally terrified. He hears all sorts of noises around him. He can only imagine what wild beasts may be prowling about, or even if some person might be lurking to do him harm. He can feel the wind; he can hear strange rustlings nearby, but he must sit stoically, never removing the blindfold. It is the only way he can become a ...