If you have an advisor you trust, you are fortunate. You should thank them today. Thank them now.
I’ve had the benefit of excellent advisors in business, spirituality and family. Fortunately I was given the gift of just enough wisdom to listen to older, wiser friends who kindly offered counsel to a young man. These advisors included my mother and father, business coaches, senior executives, scout leaders, business owners, trainers, ministers, my wife and even older classmates.
I once asked an older advisor why he spent so much time with young people and his answer stunned me. His answer is embodied in the following poem. This poem, The Bridge Builder, is used frequently as a motivation to give to future generations. This type of selfless behavior is the essence of love, a deep demonstration of gratitude and adds to the upward progress of humanity.
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 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.”
By Will Allen Dromgoole
This is a powerful concept. This is also Natural Law. Why? Remembering that Natural Law is the Law that the Creator uses, governs with and follows, He has placed within us a homing beacon that starts going off when we participate in service. Service is the outward expression of gratitude. So, when we serve as the “Bridge Builder” did, we are activating that homing beacon and we feel closer to God.
This closeness to God is what preserves societies, governments and civilization. Without it, social structures disintegrate. We should be pursuing a fully integrated society which can only successfully function on the principles Natural Law.
So, some questions come to mind.
When will we begin to trust God that we will be okay if we serve others and leave our own work for a while?
Why has our government lost faith in this concept?
How can you and I return to this powerful concept more fully in our lives and reap the benefits of closeness to the Creator?
Service is the what advisors do for those they serve. If you have advisors you are fortunate, if not, seek them. If you need new advisors, begin asking and you will find them.
I am grateful for those who’ve advised me and hope you find similar joy in your “Bridge Builders.”
God Bless You and God Bless America!
