The Bridge Builder

This week in one of Kevin's letters he sent me some of his notes. On these notes were some things he found touching... Including a poem called "The Bridge Builder" by Will Allen Dromgoole. Kev then proceeded to ask me to ponder this poem and tell him what I thought of... As you read through this poem, I would encourage you to ponder it as well and interpret it for yourself.

After reading through this poem a couple of times I came up with my own personal interpretation and was able to share my thoughts with Kevin. Here is the excerpt from the letter I wrote him regarding this beautiful poem.

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 fear 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 your strength with building here;

Your journey will end with the ending day,

You never again will pass this way;

You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,

Why build this bridge at evening tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head;

“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,

“There followed after me to-day

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been as 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 this bridge for him!”

"So I re-read the poem you sent me called "The Bridge Builder" and I started to tear up! I just really pondered it and I have figured out what it means.. At least to me. This poem is about pure love and charity. The old man to me was representative of Christ and how even though he was perfect and could have gone through his life without making that huge sacrifice for us, he did it anyways. He built that bridge for us. The bridge that he built was the atonement... Our way back to Heavenly Father; which means that we represent the youth that the old man is building the bridge for. Even though Christ could have easily made it back to Heavenly Father without suffering all of the pains that he did, he made that sacrifice, as the old man did in the poem, so that we could all make it back. After I thought of this, I realized that although Christ has made that bridge for us to cross... We must first find the bridge in order to get across it. You are now part of that process. You are sacrificing your time, giving of your love and knowledge, and you are helping God's children make it across that bridge that he has built for us. Kev... You are so important. Thank you so much for sharing this poem with me. It means so much to me now, and it truly was a blessing for me; not only just today, but every day. It shares such an important message, and is also very relevant seeing as it is the Christmas season. :)"

It is amazing how blessings come to us at times of need... Kevin obviously for some reason felt inspired to share these notes with me even if he didn't know why. Well, I have been having an extra hard week, and this is exactly what I needed. Just goes to show that the Lord knows each and every one of us personally and will never leave us feeling alone. He is always watching over us and blessing us whenever we allow him too.

Merry Christmas everyone, remember to keep the CHRIST in Christmas. :)