two ways: the only choice that really makes a difference
From the movie Molly’s Game:
Douglas Downey:
Two roads emerged from the woods.
Do they explode? I dunno.
You like poetry?
Molly Bloom:
I did until a second ago.
In 1915, Robert Frost wrote a poem about two roads. It’s one of the most famous poems in American culture.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
Robert Frost
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
We take this poem to be about choice and individualism. We all have choices to make in life. Will I go here? Will I go there? Will I date or marry this person or that person? Will I take this job or that job? And we believe this poem is telling us about Frost’s experience of choosing.
Frost says he chose to take “the road less traveled by … and that has made all the difference.” Because he chose a road that fewer people had taken—because he pushed out on his own and trusted in his own rugged individualism, it made a huge difference in his life.
(Side note: Interestingly, that’s not really what the poem means. See the link below.)
The lives we have today are the products of our combined choices. If we want to change our lives, we need to change our choices. Of course, our choices don’t only change OUR lives, but the lives of those around us as well. We are connected to each other and each other’s choices.
I was thinking about all of this today related to the last sentence in one of the most famous Psalms written by David: Psalm 139. At the end of the Psalm, David’s making a plea, a prayer to God, and he says this.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
David, Psalm 139:24
and lead me in the way everlasting.
David compares two different “ways.”
The first way, in this translation is described as “offensive.” Other translations use different English words to try to approximate the meaning in the original Hebrew.
offensive
hurtful
grievous
painful
sorrowful
The same Hebrew word is also translated as “idol” as in Isaiah 48:5. An idol is something people worship as a god. It’s something they turn to when things aren’t going well, something they give thanks to when things are great.
Human beings’ relationships with idols were (and are) based on fear. The world seemed (and seems) to be governed by massive forces beyond our personal reach. How do I exert some sense of control? I’ll develop a belief system based on the idea that if things go well, the god is pleased with me and if things aren’t going well, the god must be angry.
The result is a life based on perpetual fear and foreboding. Have I done enough to please the god?
It’s a life based on constantly trying to interpret the past and control the future—that’s what determines what we should do today. (Should I offer another sacrifice? Have I given enough to produce the result I’m looking for?) We become overwhelmed with anxiety (see Psalm 139:23), trying to please an entity that doesn’t truly exist … and that will always demand more and more and more from us.
Obviously, this way of life would be offensive to the real God. Why are you basing your life on the whims of this imaginary control mechanism?
Not only that, but the idol-focused way of life always leads to pain and sorrow, both for us and for the people around us. A life of constant anxiety? An existence defined by forces beyond our control that we desperately try to slightly influence?
Maybe you know what I’m talking about.
If you’re like me, you’ve had flashes of this kind of life in the last few months. Our world has been turned upside down by forces we can’t control—global pandemics and systemic racism to name a couple. Not to mention the forces closer to home: jobs, families, relationships, daily rhythms.
Every day seems to bring another tragedy, another report, another protest about “changes needed right now!” I certainly agree we need some sweeping changes in our nation. My point is more that there is an undertow of urgency that seems to have taken hold of all of us—whether it’s protests to reopen the country or protests about police brutality and systemic racism. There seems to be a gathering momentum in our nation. A rush and an urgency.
In some ways, I think that’s a good thing. People don’t change until they experience pain and discomfort … and societies are the same way. So bringing attention to social injustice, for example, leads to a shared pain and urgency, that we can hopefully translate into some real change.
But there’s a downside to the urgency as well. We can live in a constant state of escalated emotions with fear and anxiety taking center stage and refusing to leave. And that can be painful.
What about the other way David mentions?
The other option. The other way to live. He calls it the “everlasting way.”
The Hebrew word used here as “everlasting” is used over and over throughout the Old Testament. It’s translated in several ways.
everlasting
eternal
forever
lasting
ancient
That last word got my attention when I was researching this. The way of following God is an ancient way. It’s a way that has been around for thousands of years. It’s also a way that stretches to forever into the future. But I don’t think this word is just about quantity (the length of time). I think it’s even more about quality (what day-to-day life is like.)
When we live in the Ancient Way, we tap into something powerful. This is not a day-to-day existence of overwhelming anxiety. It’s an experience of peace and hope, connection and presence. David asks God to LEAD him in this way—so it’s about placing trust in our Creator, that He is with us, sustaining us and holding us.
The Ancient Way allows us to remain unshook (yes, I made up that word) by the latest tragedy that happened today or the potential tragedy that may be coming tomorrow. It’s not that we’re unaware of what’s happening in the world or that we’re unaffected when we see injustice. Not at all.
But living in the Ancient Way gives us the ability to act, speak, and think from a deep sense of what is (and has always been and will always be) right and good rather than from the frantic need to respond with a desperate and frenzied desire to control things, people, and situations.
Every day, every moment, we get to choose which way we will take.
Will we choose the way that is offensive, hurtful, painful, and based on an anxious need to try to exert some sort of illusory control over our lives?
Or will we choose the Ancient Way—the way of trusting and following our Creator? The way that extends forever into the past and forever into the future. The way that produces a settled knowing and deep-breath release of fear and anxiety. The way that empowers us to act in ways based on what is right and good and true. What has always been. What will always be.
My prayer is that we will all learn to live, listen, act, and speak in the Ancient Way more and more.
That is the only road that will actually make a difference.
For us and for the world.
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