by Jerry Blackerby
Mom taught me to recite the 23rd Psalm anytime I am scared or stressed. She began teaching me to do this when I was very small and scared during a west Texas thunderstorm. Here is an example when reciting the 23rd Psalm helped me a lot.
We lived near San Angelo, Texas and the Concho River when I was 15 years old. One Saturday morning, we met a friend and his family for a picnic on the Concho River. Dad knew an area that was almost like a deserted beach. The beach was great for swimming was nice and also a nice place for a picnic.
About two hundred yards upstream where trees were overhanging the river was a good fishing spot. Dad, his friend, and I put out several cane poles. Dad had me take one end of a trotline across the river and tie it to a tree limb overhanging the water on the other side.
We checked the cane poles frequently and caught several fish. After eating lunch, Dad told me to check the poles while he and his friend checked the trotline. One pole was across a couple of limbs in a tree leaning over the water. I started out the tree trunk reaching for a limb next to the pole. Something zipped by my hand just before I reached the limb. I had not seen it, but a snake was on a limb inches above the one I was reaching for and dropped by my arm into the water. It scared me so much I nearly fell into the water with the snake. I was so scared I was shaking. I began reciting the 23rd Psalm as Mom had taught me and pretty soon quit shaking and finished checking the lines.
During the afternoon, we went to the friend’s house and made ice cream. Late that evening, Dad, his friend and I went back to the river to bring in the trotline. The moon was very bright that evening. Dad told me to swim across the river and untie the trotline from the other side, while he and his friend checked to see what we had caught.
We stripped off and went into the water. My first thoughts went to the snake I had seen earlier, but I obeyed Dad and started swimming across the river in the bright moonlight. A little over halfway across, I swam into the shadows of the trees on the west bank. I began silently reciting the 23rd Psalm as Mom had taught me. Just before I reached the limb where the trotline was tied, I heard Dad’s friend scream, “Help.” Chills ran up my spine. I began to panic, turned back and yelled, “I’m coming back.” I was swimming out of the shadows as fast as I could.
Dad’s friend kept yelling and asking Dad to help him. Dad shouted to me, “Get over there and untie that line.”
I didn’t want to, but I returned to the dark shadows to find the line and untie it. I was scared, but kept reciting the 23rd Psalm. I had no idea what was causing Dad’s friend to need help. My only thoughts were about snakes.
Dad started laughing. They were in bright moonlight. Dad’s friend was holding an Alligator Gar that was hooked on the line. He was naked in waist-deep water and holding that Gar as far away as he could. He was afraid to let it go; afraid that it would bite him.
Dad took the Gar and threw it far away. I brought back my end of the trotline and got out of the water. I still recite the 23rd Psalm anytime I get scared or feel stressed.
Copyright © Jerry Blackerby 2005, 2006