What Are You Building Today?

THE BUILDER

I saw them tearing a building down,
a team of men in my hometown.
With a heave and a ho and a lusty yell,
they swung a beam and a sidewall fell.

And I said to the foreman,
“Are these men skilled?”
“Like the ones you’d use
if you had to build?”

He laughed and said, “Oh no, indeed
the most common labor is all I need.
For I can destroy in a day or two,
what takes the builder years to do.”

So I thought to myself
as I went on my way,
which one of these roles
am I willing to play?

Am I the one who is tearing down,
as I carelessly make my way around?
Or am I one, who builds with care,
to make the world better…because I was there?

—Author Unknown

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