Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Bridge Builder

I read an article today that struck home to me. It compared our life to a journey and how we are all here to learn and grow. There will be steep roads to travel and turbulent waters to cross. In this article by Thomas S. Monson he also added this  poem was written by Will Allen Dromgooles called "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;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
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."1

I loved this poem and idea that what we do on our journey on earth, is important for us and for the next generation. How we take care of the earth, how we handle adversity, what we learn from our difficulties, what we give to others, basically how we live our lives. Everything we do effects others, may we take thought not only for ourselves but for others as we journey through life. No one should have to go travel alone!

"PEOPLE ARE LONELY BECAUSE THEY BUILD WALLS INSTEAD OF BRIDGES"

"LET EVERY MAN PRAISE THE BRIDGE THAT CARRIES HIM OVER"  ~ English Proverb

 

 

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