For all of you who have asked about the poem I read in my farewell talk, here it is! I love this so much and it has become a sort of personal mission motto.
"After All We Can Do”
Robbie Pierce
I had been in that hole
for a very long time—
In the dark and the damp,
in the cold and the slime.
The shaft was above me; I
saw it quite clear,
But there’s no way I ever
could reach it from here.
I could not remember the
world way up there,
So I lost every hope and
gave in to despair.
I knew nothing but
darkness, the floor, and the wall.
Then from off in the
distance I heard someone call:
“Get up! Get ready!
There’s nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks
and build up a fine ladder!”
This was a thought that
had not crossed my mind,
But I started to stack all
the stones I could find.
When I ran out of stones,
then old sticks were my goal,
For some way or another
I’d climb from that hole.
I soon had a ladder that
stood very tall,
And I thought, “I’ll soon
leave this place once and for all!”
I climbed up my ladder, a
difficult chore,
For from lifting those
boulders, my shoulders were sore.
I climbed up the ladder,
but soon had to stop,
For my ladder stopped
short, some ten feet from the top.
I went back down my ladder
and felt all around,
But there were no more
boulders nor sticks to be found.
I sat down in the darkness
and started to cry.
I’d done all I could do
and I gave my best try.
But in spite of my work,
in this hole I must die.
And all I could do was to
sit and think, “Why?”
Was my ladder to short?
Was my hole much too deep?
Then from way up on high
came a voice: “Do not weep.”
And then faith, hope, and
love entered into my chest
As the voice calmly told
me that I’d done my best.
He said, “You have worked
hard, and your labor’s been rough,
But the ladder you’ve
built is at last tall enough.
So do not despair; there
is reason to hope,
Just climb up your ladder;
I’ll throw down my rope.”
I climbed up my ladder,
then climbed up the cord.
When I got to the top of
it, there stood the Lord.
I’ve never been happier;
my struggle was done.
I blinked in the
brightness that came from the Son.
I fell to the ground as
His feet I did kiss.
I cried, “Lord, can I ever
repay Thee for this?”
He looked all about. There
were holes in the ground.
They had people inside,
and were seen all around.
There were thousands of
holes that were damp, dark and deep.
Then the Lord looked at
me, and He said, “feed my sheep,”
And he went on his way to
save other lost souls,
So I got right to work,
calling down to the holes,
“Get up! Get ready! There
is nothing the matter!
Take rocks, and take
sticks, and build up a fine ladder!”
It now was my calling to
spread the good word,
The most glorious message
that man ever heard:
That there’s one who is
coming to save one and all,
And we need to be ready
when he gives the call.
He’ll pull us all out of
the holes that we’re in
And save all our souls
from cold death and from sin.
So do not lose faith;
there is reason to hope:
Just climb up your ladder;
he’ll throw down his rope.
