The Torch Bearer, Author Uknown. It is a poem our President, Paul D. Mooney likes to read each year to graduates as a reminder. If you're an IBC Alumni, you've no doubt heard it. It's a great reminder and holds special meaning read by Rev. Paul D. Mooney - a man who has bore the torch boldly.
The God of the High Endeavor
Gave me a torch to bear.
I lifted it high above me
In the dark and murky air;
And straightway with loud hosannas
The crowd proclaimed its light
And followed me as I carried my torch
Through the starless night,
Till drunk with people’s praises
And mad with vanity
I forgot ’twas the torch they followed
And fancied they followed me.
Then slowly my arm grew weary
Upholding the shining load
And my tired feet went stumbling
I fell with the torch beneath me.
In a moment the light was out.
When lo! from the throng a stripling
Sprang forth with a mighty shout,
Caught up the torch as it smoldered,
And lifted it high again,
Till fanned by the winds of heaven,
It fired the souls of men.
And as I lay in the darkness
The feet of the trampling crowd
Passed over and far beyond me,
Its paeans proclaimed around,
And I learned in the deepening twilight
This glorious verity,
‘Tis the torch that the people follow,
Whoever the bearer may be.