Most of you, I’m sure, are familiar with the famous “Footprints in the Sand” poem.

In it, the writer talks of how he looks back over his life and sees mostly two sets of footprints in the sand, his and Christ’s. But in some places – during the worst times of his life – he only sees one set of footprints. He questions Christ about it, and Christ tells him in no uncertain terms that he would never leave him, and in fact, during those times where he only saw one set of footprints, it was then that Christ carried him.

With that as a backdrop, I want to share a brief memory with you.

Years ago, when I worked at Easter Seals’ Timber Pointe Outdoor Center in Hudson, it was wintertime at the camp one day, when I walked from the main office to the vice president’s office to get my lunch. His office – a renovated log cabin, with hardwood floors and a fireplace – also included a conference room with a refrigerator and microwave.

Yes, having a renovated log cabin for an employee break room was definitely a perk of working there.

In fact, one of my co-workers during the time I worked there, who had hailed from working in the downtown St. Louis district, once rightfully described the whole experience of working in a cabin in the woods, with all sorts of animals running around, climbing into holes in trees, and peering in the windows as “surreal.”

And, wintertime at camp, of course, allowed for a more contemplative workday than summertime did – much to my delight. So I often found myself staring out the window as big snowflakes fell softly to the ground, lost in my own thoughts.

As I walked to the “break room,” that day, I noticed as my shoes formed footprints in the freshly fallen snow. In that moment, I realized there was, at least for a brief moment in time, a “record” of where I had walked on this Earth, at some small point in my life. Once the snow was removed or melted, that record would no longer be there.

But still, even with no visible record of it, there was no taking back that for a few moments in my life, I had walked in that particular place, at that particular time.

It got me to thinking about all of us, and all the places we walk on this Earth during our lifetime. When you think of it in those terms, the number of footprints we cast on this Earth and where and when and with whom is truly staggering. Most of our footsteps are not imprinted anywhere, except in the invisible world of Eternity. Someday, perhaps, we will be allowed a visual of everywhere we went, how we crisscrossed here and there and everywhere. (It reminds me a bit of some of the old Family Circus cartoons, where Jim Keane illustrates the kids movements in the backyard).

With that visual in mind, it occurred to me that day how important it is for us to be mindful of the footsteps we do take in this life, not only the actual footsteps, but the metaphorical ones too – the ones we take in our minds and hearts.

Those footsteps will take us many places, and the experiences we have in those places will run the gamut of human existence – joy, pain, sorrow, grief, mourning, anger, laughter, weeping, learning, loving, growing, celebrating, sharing…every possible emotion a human can have.

If, for some reason, a film was cast over all the footsteps we have ever taken in this lifetime, what would it reveal about us, our lives, our contributions to making this world a better place to live, not only for our own families, but for our brothers and sisters, everywhere, in all parts of the world?

What would it reveal to us about how we chose to live, as the late poet Mary Oliver called it, “this one wild and precious life”?

SPIRIT MATTERS is a weekly column that examines spirituality. Contact Jerrilyn Zavada at jzblue33@yahoo.com to share how you engage your spirit in your life and in your community.