Inspired by The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole

An older woman going along,
Forging toward where she belonged,
Set a steady pace on a lone highway
Came, at evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a gloomy tide.
The woman crossed as twilight occurred.
The treacherous stream held no fear for her;
So she turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old lady,” said a passing pilgrim near,
“You are wasting your strength with building here,
Your journey will end with the setting day,
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm-vast, deep, and wide.
Why build this bridge at evening tide?”

The builder lifted her old gray head;
“Dear traveler on this path,” she said,
“There follows after me a day
When another’s feet will pass this way.
This chasm that has been traversed by me,
To that one I’ve known, may a pitfall be;
She, too, must cross at twilight dim;
So, truly, I am building this bridge for them.”

The stream must be crossed, you see,
By those who know Jesus and are truly free.
It can be done with Jesus and you alone,
But that stream is full of evil and darkness, sin that was sown.
It’s the world we live in that is ultimately doomed.
With this bridge I can help others not wade through the gloom.
I’ll do my part, sharing all I can,
To ease another’s journey across the chasm’s span.