The wise old Indian chief knew that he would soon leave this life and his people behind so he decided that it was time to choose which Indian brave would take his place as chief when that day came.He decided that there was one brave in particular that was the best candidate for the job but he needed to test him before the final decision was made. He gathered all of the braves and asked one of them to step forward. He told the people that a test of obedience and skill would be needed before the next chief would be chosen.A young maiden soon approached with a new pair of moccasins.The Great Chief told a young brave to put them on his feet and instructed the young maiden to make sure that they were tied securely.
A very large brave in the back of the group began to murmur under his breath,"Why would he choose that weakling? I am older and wiser. He has never led the braves on a buffalo hunt much less a war party to defend our people as I have!" He listened intently as the old chief began to speak to the young warrior.He could not hear all of it because they had stepped away from the council fire but soon the chief looked into the eyes of the warrior and spoke so all could hear,"You will step onto the path that I have marked but you may never step off that path or remove these moccasins for any reason until you reach the end of the path and arrive back here before us to be judged. You may choose one person from all who are here to accompany you on your journey." The young brave looked at the tribe and quickly chose the older brave who had murmured. The great chief told the older brave that it would be his responsibility to watch to make sure that the young brave never left the path or took the shoes off. "You will keep your eyes on him at all times and report back to me at the end of the quest." The older brave nodded in agreement but thought to himself,"Oh I will go but it is a waste of time. This worm will never be chief!"
The two men stepped onto the path and the test began. After several hours, the young brave realized that the leather strips were tied too tightly but he didn't complain.The older brave noticed that he was beginning to walk a little slower and thought to himself,"Yes, just as I thought, he's a weakling! We have miles to go and he is already slowing down!" Soon they came to a creek that crossed the path.The older brave saw a place where a tree had fallen across the water so he left the path to cross the creek by using the fallen tree as a bridge.The young brave realized that he could not leave the path or he would be breaking the rules that the great and mighty chief had given so he waded across the waist deep water. Naturally, the moccasins were soaked when he came out on the other side but he continued to walk along the path. The older brave had already found a spot on a nearby hillside to relax in the shade as the young warrior journeyed in the blazing sun of mid-afternoon. The water on the new leather shoes caused the leather to shrink in the sun. The wet shoes rubbed blisters on his heels. He winced in pain but never complained. He kept his eyes on the path ahead and traveled on.The big warrior smiled to himself and watched. The wet shoes were caked with mud from the creek already but as the young man traveled, sand and dirt from the path clung to the shoes making them heavy and awkward to walk in .The older warrior continued to walk behind him to watch from afar. He never took his eyes off him but he also never spoke to the young warrior. He watched in disgust that such a weakling would ever be considered worthy to be chief!
The shoes were becoming unbearable! Grains of sand were rubbing into the open wounds on his heels. The young man was exhausted! Suddenly he stepped on a sharp stick that pierced the sole of his right foot. He cried out in pain! The big warrior laughed and said," You cry like a woman! You are no warrior!" The young warrior looked at him in deep sadness but did not respond to the cruel words. He thought to himself,"If I can just make it to the large pine tree on the path ahead." When he reached the tree that he had set his sights on,he chose another object as a goal to reach and walked with determination towards it." By doing this he realized that he was able to make the journey seem shorter.Suddenly, he realized that he had finally reached the end of the path.He could see the council fire ahead. All of his family and friends and the Great Chief himself were standing there waiting for him to arrive. He could see the goal ahead so he began to run as fast as he could to put an end to this misery. Just as he was within a few feet of the clearing around the campfire, he tripped and sailed through the air landing on his face! His knees were torn and bloody. The older warrior had to struggle to keep from laughing out loud as he stepped over the fallen warrior and stepped into the light of the fire to stand before the chief. The chief watched as the young warrior crawled on his knees for a while before sending some men to assist him. The young maiden was once again called forth to remove the moccasins from the young man's bloody feet. The Great Chief called the large brave forward and asked," Did you watch and make sure that this young man did as I instructed?" The strong brave responded,"Yes I watched. He was slow. He cried like a woman. He stumbled. He fell. He crawled like a worm." The Great Chief frowned and looked at the young brave who hung his head in despair.He then looked at the large man who stood smirking before him and asked, "Did he leave the path?" The big man snarled "No he didn't leave it but he could barely stand on his feet most of the time! He is a wimp!" The Great Chief looked at the exhausted young brave who returned his gaze with sorrow in his eyes. The Great Chief turned to the large brave and asked the final question,"Did he take the moccasins off his feet?" The large brave almost spit the words out,"No, he kept the shoes on but he is a FAILURE! Didn't you see with your own eyes? He crawled and he cried and he is NO LEADER! He hangs his head because he is a FAILURE!"
The Great Chief turned to his people and announced in a loud voice for all to hear, "The strong warrior speaks the truth! This test has been a FAILURE! The man that I hoped to lead you when I die has failed my test! " The big warrior grinned! He folded his arms across his chest in smug satisfaction. He thought to himself, "At last,the Great Chief has finally come to his senses and realized that this worm is no chief ! Now he will finally realize that I am the only warrior fit to be chief!"
At that moment, the Great Chief spoke, " When this test began, I commanded that the young warrior was to never step off the path until he came back here before me. You were sent to watch and make sure that he obeyed and to report back to me. You have said that he stayed on the path. The second command was that the young warrior must not at any time for any reason remove the moccasins from his feet but I never said that YOU could not take them off. I never said that you could not wash the sand and dirt from his feet or bandage his wounds. I never said that you couldn't give words of encouragement or let him wear your shoes while his were cleaned and drying. I never said that you couldn't let him lean on you for support, or steady him when he stumbled or lift him if he fell. I never said that you couldn't carry him when he was weak. If you are to lead, you must first learn to serve the people. You must learn to feel their pain. You must know their sorrows and cry tears when they cry. You must learn to care for them and to love them before you can lead them. You must learn that you are your brother's keeper. You must learn what it feels like to walk in their moccasins so that you can understand. The Young Warrior hangs his head in sorrow because you were his first choice when I asked him which man he thought would be the greatest chief of all. You failed him. The Great Chief called the young maiden forward to place the muddy, torn and blood-soaked moccasins of the young warrior upon the big warriors feet. The Chief motioned toward the path and said,"Let the test begin" as he called the two warriors that had assisted the younger warrior when he fell, to now go watch so that they could return and report the results of the second test that the future chief now faced.
"The Moccasins" was the story that I wrote to teach the children that we are to serve one another.We are to give to those who are in need. We are to follow the example of our Savior.
I wanted to make sure to end the story with the strong warrior getting a second chance to reach his desired goal in spite of his previous sins and shortcomings so that we remember the mercy and forgiveness that our Father in Heaven extends to each of us when we realize that we need to repent. Hopefully the strong warrior realized that he had brought the consequences for his poor choices upon himself and became humble enough to exchange pride for an attitude of gratitude!
The children and I are going to set a goal to focus on acts of service for the next 2 months as a way of thanking our Savior for our many blessings and for his Atoning sacrifice on our behalf. Hopefully, we are doing this all the time but we are really going to make the effort during the holiday season!
Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!
I am very impressed with this story! It illustrates the point so beautifully and simply. Thank you for sharing it!
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