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"LEADING THE
WAY"
by Charles Carroll Fishburne,
Sr.
There's a saying about South Carolinians that has truth as well
as spice,
That we always revere our ancestors, and we are crazy about rice.
This was so true of our family, for our forebears were surely
the best,
Our relatives were the cream of the crop - our uncles and aunts
and the rest.
Those trips to our uncle's plantation were always great to us
boys,
The barnyard was most intriguing, and we liked the pig-lot noise.
There were scuppernongs in the arbor, and mulberries also to eat,
And, of course, Aunt Carrie's kitchen was the source of many a
treat.
Another attraction, however, was relatives living nearby.
Two cousins about our ages were half a mile off, as crows fly.
Now a half-mile is normally nothing to young boys' limber legs,
But this half-mile was a cotton field of sand hot enough to fry
eggs.
So, how do we get to our cousins? was the problem we then faced.
Our feet would have been blistered, no matter how hard we raced.
Well, my improvising brother had a plan to save our feet.
He knew the sand under the surface was shielded from the sun's
heat.
So he took-off across the blazing sand, a hundred feet or so,
And kicked away the hot surface to the cooler sand below.
Then he stood on the spot and cooled his feet 'til ready to run
ahead,
Then I ran to that spot and cooled my feet and watched him as
he led.
So I followed him across the field as he'd run and dig and stand,
And I was glad he'd made the way across the blazing sand.
I think of other pathways that we must often tread,
Pathways filled with wonder, pathways filled with dread.
Like the trip across the cotton field there's someone going ahead,
To show that the path is passable, to take away the dread.
Yes, Christ our Lord has been there, wherever the path may lead.
He's promised to be with us, whatever may be our need.
His Word says He'll never try us beyond that we're able to stand,
Nor leave us to travel alone, across the burning sand.
So, keep us ever believing, Lord, as we tread our pilgrim way,
That you'll be with us tomorrow as you've been with us today.
CCF `99
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