Skip to main content

The Road Not Taken (with apologies to Robert Frost.)


The Road Not Taken


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 difference

                                                                                                                Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken)

 

                This last stanza  of Robert Frost's poem doesn't quite describe my life. Oh, I suspect I've often taken the road less traveled by. I also suspect I've taken it less often than I like to imagine I have.  What really describes my life, but would not sound nearly as desirable, is that I have taken the road I didn't want to take.

                In the summer of 2001, I left the church I'd been attending for years.  I had not intended to leave but circumstances led me to feel it necessary. When I explained that I had left to some friends, they suggested the church I am currently attending and my first reaction was, "Oh, I've gone to a church of that denomination before and it's so far away. It took two visits to convince me that where I didn't want to go was where I belonged. On September 11, of course, we all died a little. Then in November, my boss informed me that County Council had eliminated my position. The last piece of the life I had known since college came tumbling down.  It didn't all happen on September 11, but in my mind that date became symbolic of my own death  to one life and rebirth to another.

                The past couple months are the most recent chapter in this story. I am following the example of Sarah, who left Ur with her husband, Abraham, and traveled to a place she did not know  because of a promise of blessings:  an end to her cursed barrenness and a new life. In June, my brother died and that changed the family dynamics. My father is not suited to spending winters in Erie anymore, so I have decided to commit a figurative suicide.  I am leaving the job I have held since 2002. I am taking a leave of absence from the church I have attended since 2001. I am going to a place that I not only don't know, but which is not a place I would choose to go. We have not packed yet, but since we'll be sojourning in a modern "tabernacle," I am leaving behind many things that I hold dear, the most troubling of which are books.

             I've decided that the name for this season is "Mission: Faithwalk." I am holding on to the promise that my "barrenness" will be ended - that I will build a new life, start a new career doing something meaningful and rewarding. This blog is a piece of that dream. I'm starting it in order to allow those who happen to care know what's going on, and in order to feel held accountable.  I expect that by next April, I will say once again

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one I wanted not,
And that has made all the difference

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more