Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the differenceRobert Frost
As I remember this poem from my literature studies in high school, I find myself questioning it’s importance. Decisions; I mean. As a Christian, being called to make Christ-like decisions is drilled into your head in Sunday School.
Be a man, do the right thing.
What would Jesus do?
Thus I learned that there were two main philosophies in life people chose from:
1. You only live once, do whatever you want.
Or
2. You only live once, do it right.
Sometimes what I want isn’t always right, moral, Christian and upstanding. Sometimes I desire the immoral, the demonic and what some people might call less-than-human. Sometimes my angel won’t make nice with my devil.
When I was 7, it was easy to side with the angel. Life was clear cut. Black. White.
As I grow older life is still black and white but my vision gets a little blurry. Suddenly I see more gray areas. Suddenly it’s harder to say “No”. Suddenly the devil seems a little louder, a little stronger, a little more attractive.
There’s a reason why the road less travelled is, well, less travelled. It is full of thickets, thorns and thistles. My walk on this path is starting to cost me. I have scratches everywhere. My feet blister. I’m bleeding more often. I want to turn back. I don’t see the relief those who came this way speak of. If anything, my salvation seems further.
I gotta ask myself; “Why am I doing this again?”
Fear?
Obedience?
Love?
Familiarity?
Guilt?
I know no other way?
In Your defense, You never promised me a ray of light. You never promised there’d be sushine everyday.
In this world you will have trouble- John 16:33
I never signed up for this.
I will show him how much he must suffer for My name- Acts 9:16
Damn. Should’ve read the fine print.
Now that I know the primal cognitive dissonance stirring in my bowels is just the beginning of what life will put me through simply because I have chosen You, would You let me out of this contract so I can runaway from this path?
I consider that [your] present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed. The moment [you] get tired in the waiting, [I’m] right alongside helping [you]. If [you] don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. [I] know [you] far better than [you] know [yourself]. [I] knew what [I] was doing from the very beginning. That’s why [you] can be so sure that every detail in [your] life of love for [Me] is worked into something good. -Romans 8:18-30
Sigh.
Two roads diverged in the path and I-
I shall take the one less travelled by…
