Safe Passage

Here's a great poem by Will Allen Dromgoole called “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 fears 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 must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide—
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
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 the bridge for him.

Sometimes the most important bridge that we can build is the one for our future selves. I think of my daughter Mackenzie who is now reaping smooth passage through her high school years on a bridge she started when she was very young. She built a bridge of steady study habits, high standards, and daily spiritual centering. I can't think of a time I have ever seen a kid with such a wide open future ahead of them. She inspires me.

Each time you choose to exercise or eat nutrient dense food, you are building a bridge for your future physical experience. When you choose to immediately let go of an offense, each time you stay honest, or keep your commitments, or steer clear of addiction and harmful behaviors, you are without question building safe passage for your emotional and spiritual future. Others are watching you too. Your bridge may light the way for someone in your life that you may not even be aware of.