Footprints

Version 1

At the end of a man's life, he looked back over the steps of his lifetime, as footprints in the sand. He saw that for most of his life, God had walked beside him. But at those moments in his life when he was in the most turmoil, the most anguish, going through the roughest periods, there was only one set of footprints. And he turned to God and pointed at those times, and he asked, "Why did you leave me during those times?" God responded to the man's complaint, saying, "During those times that you see one set of footprints; those were the times that I carried you."

Version 2

At the end of a man's life, he looked back over the steps of his lifetime, as footprints in the sand. He saw that for most of his life, God had walked beside him. But at those moments in his life when he was in the most turmoil, the most anguish, going through the roughest periods, the footprints separated, each going their own separate way. And he turned to God and pointed at those times, and he asked, "Why did you leave me during those times?" God responded to the man's complaint, saying, "At a point in your life, you chose to follow me. Where the tracks diverge is where you left me, going your own way. I did not depart from you, it was you that departed from me."