In his Master's footsteps

Every Christmas season, I choose carols to present at the special events.    One of the songs, which isn't sung much anymore, is "Good King Wenceslas".   Truth be told, I have always found it sort of hum-drum. The melody is repetitious and I have never heard a version of it that captured my imagination.

The story of Good King Wenceslas is about rich king who saw a poor man at The Feast of Stephen and decided to give him help. He enlists the help of his page-boy to go and bring him tangible help.

Although I have sung it many times, it was always without much spirit. However, last year, I was struck by a vivid picture within the carol and it became a game-changer for me.

Wenceslas and the page are about to go out into a raging storm.  I imagine it was the kind of blizzard in which you cannot see anything.  The kind of blizzard threatening the very life of the person who ventures out in it.

The page says [voice trembling - my interpretation]:

"Sire, the night is darker now,

    And the wind blows stronger;

Fails my heart, I know not how,

    I can go no longer."

And then King Wenceslas replies [confidence oozing - my interpretation]:

"Mark my footsteps, good my page;

    Tread thou in them boldly;

Thou shalt find the winter's rage

    Freeze thy blood less coldly."

The page takes his master's advice and:

 "In his master's steps he trod,

    Where the snow lay dinted;

Heat was in the very sod

    Which the saint had printed."

This part of the story was the one that stood out for me in a new way.  How often do I feel the storms of life swirling around me and I cannot make my way.  I cannot see anything in front of me.  I am blinded by the whiteout of distress. Then my Master says:

" Mark my footsteps, good [Marni];  Tread thou in them boldly;

The storm is too great for me to see anything but one step at a time. But as I take one step, and then another, and then another, 

I find that my Master, who knows the way is leading me through the storm. He is never far away.  If he strides ahead of me, I will lose my way quickly.  If I don't walk in His footsteps as He takes them, I will be overtaken by the tempest. So,

I take one step.  I trust in His guidance. And I take another step.  And one more.  On through the storm.
 And although it doesn't change the storm, 

it  changes the way I walk through the storm.
I do not walk alone.

Together, my Master and I will reach the destination.