Some day the world will need a man of courage in a time of doubt, <br />And somewhere, as a little boy, that future hero plays about. <br />Within some humble home, no doubt, that instrument of greater things <br />Now climbs upon his father's knee or to his mother's garments clings. <br />And when shall come that call for him to render service that is fine, <br />He that shall do God's mission here may be your little boy or mine. <br />Long years of preparation mark the pathway for the splendid souls, <br />And generations live and die and seem no nearer to their goals, <br />And yet the purpose of it all, the fleeting pleasure and the woe, <br />The laughter and the grief of life that all who come to earth must know <br />May be to pave the way for one—one man to serve the Will Divine <br />And it is possible that he may be your little boy or mine. <br />Some day the world will need a man! I stand beside his cot at night <br />And wonder if I'm teaching him, as best I can, to know the right. <br />I am the father of a boy—his life is mine to make or mar— <br />And he no better can become than what my daily teachings are; <br />There will be need for someone great—I dare not falter from the line— <br />The man that is to serve the world may be that little boy of mine. <br />Perhaps your boy and mine may not ascend the lofty heights of fame; <br />The orders for their births are hid. We know not why to earth they came. <br />Yet in some little bed to-night the great man of to-morrow sleeps <br />And only He who sent him here, the secret of his purpose keeps. <br />As fathers then our care is this—to keep in mind the Great Design. <br />The man the world shall need some day may be your little boy or mine.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-man-to-be/
