Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone?

Isn’t it strange that princes and kings

And clowns that caper in sawdust rings

And common folk like you and me

Are builders of eternity?

 

Each is given a book of rules,

A mass of clay and a set of tools;

And each will make ere life hath flown,

A stumbling block or a stepping stone.

 

— Anonymous grade school teacher