THE BRIDGE BUILDER
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim-
That sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when he reached the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength in building here.
You never again must pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head.
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”
~ WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE
Jesus Christ was the ultimate bridge builder…and we’ve all benefited since.
What bridges are you building today that others can walk over tomorrow?
Thanks, Evan. This gave me some ideas!
Love this poem. I’ve come to think this way about the challenges I’ve overcome in life…that maybe my having faced them down will lighten the load for someone else….esp. my own child. You know…’a little drop of water purifies the (whole) stream…’ 🙂 Thanks!