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 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 you this bridge at the evening 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 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 this bridge for him.”

“The Bridge Builder” by Will Allen Dromgoole

Step 77 of Steps to Knowledge is a review of Steps 71 through 76. There are the usual sort of things you might expect in a review. Students are instructed to examine the qualities which forwarded their practice, and the tendencies which hindered their participation. It is very much in the spirit of Step 73, “I will allow my errors to teach me.”

I am building the bridge to my future

But there is another thread in Step 77 in which I took hope. It is a thread of the necessity of learning from both truth and error, so that I can be of genuine and effective service to others:

“You must learn of truth and you must learn of error. You must do this to progress, and you must do this to serve others. Unless you have learned of error and can look at it objectively and understand how it has arisen and how it can be relieved—until you have learned these things—you will not know how to serve others, and their errors will anger you and frustrate you.”

I take hope in this, because I really would like to be helpful. In the past, well, let’s just say that I haven’t been as helpful as I would like to have been. I take great hope in being able to be more helpful in the future.

Here is the word cloud for Steps 71-76

I am building the bridge to my future. What is the bridge I am building to my future? I am the bridge I am building to my future. Who am I building this bridge for? The youth who must cross in the twilight dim. Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.

Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.