We each and all are builders,
Of station, fortune, life!
The minutes, as they meet us,
With great results are rife;
On self depends the future,
Its sorrow or its joy,
God gives the loaded present,
And bids us it employ.
We each and all are builders!
Say, shall our structure stand,
Resting on Rock-foundation
Or on the shifting sand?
Shall we be idle dreamers—
That what befalls us must?
Or active men and women,
Who to their doings trust?
We each and all are builders!
O wisely then attend
To callings, duties, promptings—
Our lives on these depend;
There lie both stone and mortar
On time's deep-border'd shelves,
And God, the Master-Builder
Helps those who help themselves.
