The Road Not Taken

I'm inspired by people who are willing to give their life to a single, noble cause (e.g. William Wilberforce, Amy Carmichael, Mother Teresa, Charles Colson, etc.; to this list you could add Bryan Stevenson who gave this TED talk). G.K. Chesterton made this astute observation in his book Orthodoxy, "So he who wills to reject nothing, wills the destruction of will; for will is not only the choice of something, but the rejection of almost everything." This is not easy for me as my natural tendency is to have as many options available as possible. When people choose a cause, it means they reject other things (including other good things); and it is the rejection of the other things that empower them to focus on the one thing. I really admire this and it is one of my deepest longings and prayers to live that kind of focused life.

I think Robert Frost expresses a similar sentiment in his poem The Road Not Taken:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, 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 word them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I marked 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 sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that had made all the difference.

Choosing one path often requires that we reject another path. Sometimes we're hesitant to make a difficult decision because we're afraid to close the door on the "other path(s)". We want a backup plan; a second option just in case the first one doesn't work out. We're afraid to go "all in" because we might end up with nothing. This is a sensible and practical way to live, but....

This Lenten season, my prayer is that we would follow Jesus – who lived and died with a singular focus of glorifying God the Father by redeeming all those who would look to Him in faith. He chose one path - the path of the cross; may God gives us the grace to follow Him.