Choices

Robert Frost wrote his poem The Road Not Taken in 1920. The poem is about a traveler who comes to a branching in his road in the woods, where he has to make a decision. He weighs both options, and decides to chose the less worn path, considering that perhaps he might return some day to take the other road, but knowing that this will likely never happen. And this less traveled road is the one that “made all the difference”.

Every person has an important place in their life where they must make a decision that also makes “all the difference”. It may be a single choice, or it may be a series of choices, but it determines the direction they will follow for the rest of their days on earth. And even on that path with multiple branches, there is still the one fork in the road that starts the journey in the direction they choose.

This first step on the narrow road, the road less traveled, is well covered in literature throughout the ages. In the Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, It can be the step Saruman took in studying the arts of the Enemy too deeply, and which resulted in his ensnarement by Sauron. Or it could be the decision by Frodo to leave his safe home and take the Ring on that hopeless journey to try to destroy it in Mordor. The paths of Anakin Skywalker and his son Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga track similar choices that show how they learn to handle power, and how it shapes their lives and destinies.

Even for those of us who live less exciting lives, those who live lives that seem to be inconsequential, we all have our moment in time that starts us on a path. Jesus once told his disciples to find the narrow gate on their path in life. “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) The choice of the narrow road does not determine whether the outcome is riches or poverty, but whether or not the journey is one of fulfillment or despair.

Larry Norman in his album In Another Land made reference to Frost’s poem. His song One Way poignantly emphasizes the difference his choice made to him.

Newsong also addressed this topic in an indirect way. Their song from the Sheltering Tree album identified this fork in the road as a Defining Moment – the point that clarified the rest of a person’s life.

Here is your double play (* double play! *) for today. First, Larry Norman’s song One Way:

And here is Defining Moment by Newsong: