what did you do?
by Anonymous
From the Book Jewels of Masonic
Eloquence and Stories Volume 1
Masonic Research Society
Enid, Oklahoma 1915
Did
you give him a lift? He's a brother of man, And bearing about all the burden he
can.
Did
you give him a smile? He was downcast and blue, And the smile would have helped
him to battle it through.
Did
you give him your hand? He was slipping down hill, And the world, so I fancied,
was using him ill, Did you give him the word? Did you show him the road?
Or
did you just let him go on with his load?
Did
you help him along? He's a sinner like you, But the grasp of your hand might
have carried him through.
Did
you bid him good cheer? Just a word and a smile Were what he most needed that
last weary mile.
Did
you know what he bore in that burden of cares, That is every man's load and that
sympathy shares?
Did
you try to find out what he needed from you, Or did you just leave him to battle
it through?
Do
you know what it means to be losing a fight, When a lift just in time might set
everything right?
Do
you know what it means - just a clasp of a hand, When a man's borne about all a
man ought to stand?
Did
you ask what it was - why the quivering lip, And the glistening tears down the
pale cheek that slip?
Were you a brother of his when the time came to be?
Did
you offer to help him, or didn't you see?
Don't you know it's the part of the brother of man To find out what the grief is
and help when you can?
Did
you stop when he asked you to give him a lift, Or, were you so busy you left him
to shift?
Oh,
I know what you meant - what you say may be true - But the test of your manhood
is, What did you do?
Did
you reach out a hand? Did you find him the road?
Or
did you just let him go by with his load?
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