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Robert Frost’s famous poem The Road Not Taken says:
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…
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere in 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.
In her book Finding God Beyond Harvard, Kelly Monroe Kullberg adds to the wisdom of Frost and comments on the claim that all religions are the same and lead to the same place and that one road vs. another really makes no difference: “[Yes] there are many paths up the mountain” she says. “But we find only one person who made a path down the mountain from the top, to love us [and show us the way back up].”
Do you really believe that all paths lead to the same destination, or does common sense tell you that Kullberg and Frost might be right: that if you want to get from point A to point B, it is wise to get a map and follow a guide? A guide who actually knows where he is going. A guide who can show the way, who knows the right path, and who exemplifies the right road—the right ideas—that will help us avoid getting lost.
Here’s a thought: As we begin each new day with all its hope and promise, perhaps we’d be wise to reflect on the words of Robert Frost and remember that as we approach the diverging cultural roads before us, choosing the one less traveled does, indeed, make all the difference.