The Useful Man
With what do you measure The Useful Man,
A pint, a peck, by height or by width,
By the size of his heart, his mind, or his wit?
No, The Useful Man is more than this.
The Useful Man is measured in time,
He is given his page and he writes line by line.
He lives each day as God has ordained,
Until his page is complete and to home he is bade.
He is not induced by folly, he is not inclined to despair,
He meets opportunities as opportunities are declared.
He is not without fault, as if a man without peers,
But let us examine him closely and see how he compares.
A Lazy Man robs the air that he breathes,
From the grass and the flowers and the fields and the trees,
But The Useful Man nurtures the ground with his work,
For he is God’s appointed workman and His nature’s clerk.
The Pessimistic Man sees sticks on the ground,
But The Useful Man sees the potential to be found.
He carves and smooths them into childhood dreams,
Of rocking horse ponies, and sailboats, and trains.
The Youthful Man sets his hand to the plow,
But The Useful Man shows him how.
To read the ground and lead on the team,
To watch for the harvest, and to know when to glean.
The Industrious Man strings electric lights in his factory.
The Logical Man sets them in the exact place they need to be.
But The Useful Man turns them on so that all may see,
So each man may reach his productivity.
He manages his fingers and tracks his own hands,
He rises to help his neighbor, and help them to stand.
He fills the empty seat, without regard to who mis-planned,
Yet he’s stubborn to complete his own useful plans.
How do we measure The Useful Man,
With a pint, a peck, by height or by width?
No, by how he has served and how he's quick to forgive,
And by the effort and wisdom and love that he is.