HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Footprints," also known as "Footprints in the Sand," is a popular modern
allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
poem. It describes a person who sees two pairs of
footprints Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hoof, hooves or paws rather than foot, feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by ...
in the sand, one of which belonged to
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
and another to themselves. At some points the two pairs of footprints dwindle to one; it is explained that this is where God carried the protagonist.


Content

This popular text is based in Christian beliefs and describes an experience in which a person is walking on a beach with God. They leave two sets of footprints in the sand. The tracks represent stages of the speaker's life. The two trails dwindle to one, especially at the lowest and most hopeless moments of the person's life. When the narrator questions God, believing that the Lord must have abandoned his love during those times, God gives the explanation, "During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."


Authorship and origin

The authorship of the poem is disputed, with a number of people claiming to have written it. In 2008, Rachel Aviv, in a
Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is a United States literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthrop ...
article, discusses the claims of Burrell Webb, Mary Stevenson, Margaret Fishback Powers, and Carolyn Joyce Carty. Later that year, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', covering a lawsuit between the claims of Stevenson, Powers, and Carty, said that "At least a dozen people" had claimed credit for the poem. The three authors who have most strenuously promoted their authorship are Margaret Powers (née Fishback), Carolyn Carty, and Mary Stevenson. Powers says she wrote the poem on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, in mid-October, 1964. Powers is among the contenders who have resorted to litigation in hopes of establishing a claim. She is occasionally confused with American writer Margaret Fishback. Powers published an autobiography in 1993. Carolyn Carty also claims to have written the poem in 1963 when she was six years old based on an earlier work by her great-great aunt, a Sunday school teacher. She is known to be a hostile contender of the "Footprints" poem and declines to be interviewed about it, although she writes letters to those who write about the poem online. A collection of poetry by Carty with a claim to authorship of "Footprints" was published in 2004. Mary Stevenson is also a purported author of the poem circa 1936. A Stevenson biography was published in 1995, written by
Gail Brewer-Giorgio Gail Brewer-Giorgio (March 18, 1939 – January 25, 2025) was an American author best known for perpetuating the conspiracy theory that Elvis Presley may have faked his own death. In 1978 she published ''Orion'', a novel based loosely on Presl ...
who had previously become famous for perpetuating the conspiracy theory that Elvis Presley may still be alive.


Popular use of phrase

Before its appearance in the 1970s, the phrase "footprints in the sand" occurred in other works. The most dominant usage in prose is in the context of fictional or nonfiction adventure or mystery stories or articles. Prominent fiction includes
Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...
's 1719 novel ''
Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' ( ) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...
'' and
Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...
's short story "Foot-prints on the Sea-shore" published in the ''
Democratic Review ''The United States Magazine and Democratic Review'' was a periodical published from 1837 to 1859 by John L. O'Sullivan. Its motto, "The best government is that which governs least", was famously paraphrased by Henry David Thoreau in "Resistance ...
''. Hawthorne published the story again in ''
Twice-Told Tales ''Twice-Told Tales'' is a short story collection in two volumes by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first volume was published in the spring of 1837 and the second in 1842. The stories had all been previously published in magazines and annuals, hence t ...
'' and it has been reprinted many times since. A line in the story reads, "Thus, by tracking our foot-prints in the sand, we track our own nature in its wayward course, and steal a glance upon it, when it never dreams of being so observed. Such glances always make us wiser." Non-fiction includes the 1926 post-kidnapping discovery of
Aimee Semple McPherson Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson (née Kennedy; October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee or Sister, was a Canadian-born American Pentecostalism, Pentecostal Evangelism, evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920 ...
in the northern Mexican desert. In the two centuries before 1980, when "Footprints" entered popular American culture, many books, articles, and sermons appeared with "Footprints in the Sand" as a title. Some of them concerned the lives of Christian missionaries. ''Footprints and Living Songs'' is an 1883 biography of hymn-writer
Frances Ridley Havergal Frances Ridley Havergal (14 December 1836 – 3 June 1879) was an English religious poet and hymnwriter. ''Take My Life and Let it Be'' and ''Thy Life for Me'' (also known as ''I Gave My Life for Thee'') are two of her best known hymns. She also ...
. In 1839, "A Psalm of Life" by
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...
contained the lines: Within a decade, the last phrase of the poem was being used in public discourse without attribution, apparently on the assumption that any literate reader would know its origin. In some usages "of time" disappeared; later, "on" seems to become "in". "The Object of a Life" (1876) by
George Whyte-Melville George John Whyte-Melville (19 June 1821 – 5 December 1878) was a Scottish novelist much concerned with field sports, and also a poet. He took a break in the mid-1850s to serve as an officer of Turkish irregular cavalry in the Crimean War. Li ...
includes the lines: was published in the widely read (and plagiarized) '' Temple Bar''. The lines here are strikingly similar in many respects to those seen in contemporaneous hymn lyrics and later poetry.


Biblical background

Deuteronomy 1:31 presents the concept of "God bearing you". The 1609 Douay-Rheims Bible Old Testament translation from Latin into English uses the wording, "And in the wilderness (as thou hast seen) the Lord thy God hath carried thee, as a man is wont to carry his little son, all the way that you have come, until you came to this place." In 1971, the
New American Standard Bible The New American Standard Bible (NASB, also simply NAS for "New American Standard") is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published by the Lockman Foundation, the complete NASB was released in 1971. New revisions were publis ...
used the language "and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you". Nearly identical wording is used in other late-twentieth-century translations, including the
New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released on October 27, 1978, with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies ...
of 1978.


Possible nineteenth century origins

May Riley Smith May Riley Smith (May 27, 1842 – January 14, 1927) was an American poet and clubwoman. Biography May (or Mary) Louise Riley was born on May 27, 1842, in Rochester, New York. She attended Brockport Collegiate Institute. She married Albert Smith ...
's poem "If," published without attribution in the ''
Indianapolis Journal The ''Indianapolis Journal'' was a newspaper published in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The paper published daily editions every evening except on Sundays, when it published a morning edition. Histor ...
'' in 1869, includes a stanza that describes God's footprints in the sand next to a boy's: June Hadden Hobbs suggested that the origin of the modern "Footprints" is in Mary B. C. Slade's 1871 hymn "Footsteps of Jesus" as "almost surely the source of the notion that Jesus's footprints have narrative significance that influences the way believers conduct their life stories...it allows Jesus and a believer to inhabit the same space at the same time...Jesus travels the path of the believer, instead of the other way around." A similar argument could be made for ''Footprints of Jesus'' by L. B. Thorpe as published in the 1878 ''The International Lesson Hymnal''. Aviv suggests that the source of the modern "Footprints" allegory is the opening paragraph of
Charles Haddon Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31st January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." ...
's 1880 sermon "The Education of the Sons of God". He wrote:
And did you ever walk out upon that lonely desert island upon which you were wrecked, and say, "I am alone, — alone, — alone, — nobody was ever here before me"? And did you suddenly pull up short as you noticed, in the sand, the footprints of a man? I remember right well passing through that experience; and when I looked, lo! it was not merely the footprints of a man that I saw, but I thought I knew whose feet had left those imprints; they were the marks of One who had been crucified, for there was the print of the nails. So I thought to myself, "If he has been here, it is a desert island no longer."
In 1883, an American encyclopedia of hymns by female writers included Jetty Vogel, an English poet. Vogel's "At the Portal" follows someone looking at their footprints as they deviate from the proper path. Vogel's hymn has an angel's footsteps but lacks the "I carried you" of the modern "Footprints". In 1892, the ''Evening Star'' ran a short story "Footprints in the Sand" written by
Flora Haines Loughead Flora Haines Loughead (later, Flora Gutierrez; 1855–1943) was an American writer, farmer, and miner from Wisconsin. She became the "Opal Queen" of Virgin Valley. Flora's son Allan was the founder of American aerospace company the Lockheed Corp ...
for the ''Star''. The work uses a metaphor for Christ, of a father following footprints in the sand of another's child headed for danger, as he wonders, "Why was it that there was nowhere any sign of a larger footprint to guide the little babyish feet?"


Possible 20th century origins

In 1918, Mormon publication '' The Children's Friend'' re-published the Loughead piece (credited, but misspelled "Laughead"), ensuring a wider distribution in the western states. Chicago area poet Lucille Veneklasen frequently submitted poems to the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' in the 1940s and 1950s; one entitled "Footprints" was published in the ''Tribune'' in late 1958: ::I walked the road to sorrow—a road so dark with care, so lonely, I was certain that no one else was there. ::But suddenly around me were beams of light, stretched wide; and then I saw that someone was walking by my side. ::And when I turned to notice this road which I had trod, I saw two sets of footprints—My own... and those of God. Veneklasen's poem appeared occasionally in newspaper obituaries, commonly lacking attribution, and often with the decease substituted for "I". In 1963 and 1964, the ''Aiken Standard and Review'' in South Carolina ran a poem by frequent contributor M. L. Sullivan titled "Footprints". This was a bit of romantic verse that moves from sadness at "lone footprints in the sand" to close with "our footprints in the sand".


Early documentable history

The earliest known formally dated publications of any variants of the poem are from 1978, with three different descriptions of the person and also the setting. The first to appear in July 1978, in a small Iowa town newspaper, is a very concise (six-sentence) version featuring an "elderly man" and "rocky roads". There is no attribution for this piece, and this version does not seem to have appeared in any other publication. The second and most complete early appearance was in a September 1978 issue of ''Evangel'', a semi-monthly Church of God publication. This version is similar to the "Carty" version but is credited to "Author Unknown—(Submitted by Billy Walker)". A third version appeared in October 1978, in two California papers, first in Oakland and twelve days later in Shafter, with a "young woman" and a "sandy pathway" in a "desert wilderness". This version does not appear to have re-emerged later. In 1979, additional appearances occurred: two in small Louisiana and Mississippi newspapers, one in a Catholic journal, two in widely syndicated newspapers columns, one on a nationwide radio program and reprinted by two small papers, and one in a prominent evangelist's biography. In January 1979, the Opelousas, Louisiana, ''Daily World'' published a near exact Carty version but with a "My dear child" mutation at the end, and no attribution. In March, the ''Winona Times'' presented a Powers-like version with "a certain elderly man ... walking along a sea shore" where "Out of the waves shot rays of light, mystic and wonderful that played across the sky illuminating scenes from his life". He was "sorely troubled and his life had been at its saddest and lowest ebb." The March 1979 issue of ''Liguorian'', a monthly publication of the Catholic
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer The Redemptorists, officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (), abbreviated CSsR, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brothers). It was founded by Alphonsus Liguori at Scal ...
, published a complete, nearly unmodified first-person version following Carty, but attributed to "Author Unknown". Christian televangelist and columnist
Robert Schuller Robert Harold Schuller (September 16, 1926 – April 2, 2015) was an American Christian televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, and author. Over five decades, Schuller pastored his church in Garden Grove, California starting in 1955. The ...
noted in his column that a reader had sent him a story; it is unclear whether the version presented in the column—which casts a "pilgrim" as the human character—was used verbatim or was rewritten by Schuller: this particular version has not been re-published after the column's original nationwide publication during March–August, 1979. In April 1979, the ''Havre Daily News'' in Montana published a variant of the Carty version told in first person with slightly different punctuation and a "never, never" alteration to match the "precious, precious child" of the previous sentence. The author of the local weekly column noted that it had been supplied by a friend who had "first heard twhen
Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...
quoted it on his radio program." It is unknown whether the listener had copied it down from memory or received a written version from Mr. Harvey or elsewhere. No recordings or transcriptions of Mr. Harvey's daily radio news and commentary broadcasts are known to have survived. A verbatim copy of the Havre instance ran in a small, inmate-produced newsletter published by the
Napa State Hospital Napa State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Napa, California, founded in 1875. It is located along California State Route 221, the Napa-Vallejo Highway, and is one of California's five state mental hospitals. Napa State Hospital holds civil ...
, in July 1979. Advice columnist
Ann Landers Ann Landers was a pen name created by ''Chicago Sun-Times'' advice columnist Ruth Crowley in 1943 and taken over by Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer in 1955. For 56 years, the ''Ask Ann Landers'' syndicated advice column was a regular featur ...
published an exact copy of the Stevenson version in July 1979. The column indicates that the correspondent who provided the work, claims to have carried a tattered copy around "for years" with no further explanation of its publication source. She printed the piece again in late February 1982 in response to reader demand and noted that it had also appeared in ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
''. The 1982 republication added a novel phrase "I would never desert you". Christian televangelist
Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch ...
's 1979 biography, ''Jerry Falwell: Aflame for God'', opens a chapter with an expanded "a man dreamed" version. Humorist and columnist
Erma Bombeck Erma Louise Bombeck (''née'' Fiste; February 21, 1927 – April 22, 1996) was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper humor column describing suburban home life, syndicated from 1965 to 1996. Fifteen books of her hum ...
published a condensed version of Stevenson's variant in July 1980. During the 1980 United States presidential campaign,
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
used a variant of "Footprints", with himself as the human, as the closing lines in an August speech to evangelical leaders in Dallas, Texas. President Reagan used "Footprints" again in a speech at the annual
National Prayer Breakfast The National Prayer Breakfast is a yearly event held in Washington, D.C., usually on the first Thursday in February. The founder of this event was Abraham Vereide. The event—which is actually a series of meetings, luncheons, and dinners—has ...
on February 5, 1981. These versions appear to be Stevenson paraphrases. Advice columnist "Dear Abby" ran a Carty version attributed to "Author Unknown" in late 1981.


Influence

In 1983,
Cristy Lane Cristy Lane (born Eleanor Johnston; January 8, 1940) is an American Christian and country music singer. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she had a series of hits on the North American country charts with songs like " Let Me Down Easy", " I Just ...
released a
country gospel Christian country music (sometimes marketed as country gospel, gospel country, positive country or inspirational country) is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as (in terms ...
song based on the poem called "Footprints in the Sand". The song peaked at No. 64 on the ''Billboard'' Country chart and No. 30 on the U.S. Christian chart.
Per Magnusson Per Magnusson (born 30 May 1969) is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. His musical career took off in 1994 as one of the original team members of the now-legendary Cheiron Productions, meeting great international success working with Boyz ...
,
David Kreuger David Kreuger is a Swedish songwriter and music producer. Career David Kreuger began at Cheiron Studios in the spring of 1993. During the period 1993-1997, he worked with Per Magnusson on several projects. Together, they produced and wrote s ...
, Richard Page, and
Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...
wrote a song based on the poem, called " Footprints in the Sand", which was recorded by
Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress, model, and activist. Born and raised in Islington, Inner London, she later attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieve ...
. It appears on Lewis's debut album '' Spirit''. "Footprints in the Sand" became the official theme of the 2008 version of biennial charity programme
Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...
, by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
. Another song inspired by the poem called "Footprints" was recorded by Dancehall/Reggae group T.O.K.


See also

*
Third Man factor The third man factor or third person syndrome refers to the reported situations where an Anomalous experiences#Sense of presence, unseen presence, such as a spirit, provides comfort or support during traumatic experiences. History Sir Ernest S ...
* Parable of the drowning man, another story about God and his relationship with humanity often retold among modern Christians


References


External links


Who wrote "Footprints"?
{{portalbar, poetry Christian allegory 20th-century poems