Justice shall walk before him, and prepare the way of his steps. — Psalm 85: 14
When I read this scripture passage, it reminded me of a poem I read many years ago that has always inspired me.
The BridgeBuilder
by Will Allen Dromgoole
An old man traveling alone highway
Came at the evening cold and gray
To a chasm vast & deep & wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen stream held no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side,
And builded a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man” cried a fellow pilgrim near,
“You’re wasting your time in building here.
Your journey will end with the closing day;
You never again will pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm deep and wide,
Why build you this bridge at even-tide?”
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 stream which has been as naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim—
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”
Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director
Office of Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries
Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral Raleigh, NC