The Nodes of Life Part 7
May 21, 2025
The Nodes of Life Part 7
A juncture is when two or more things come together. The word is frequently used to describe a critical point when a decision must be made. This is a type of node.
Robert Frost expressed it beautifully 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 worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept 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 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.
The last three lines of this classic piece are the most often quoted. They highlight the tremendous importance of our choices at the various junctures in life. The author says that choosing the less-traveled path makes all the difference. But he doesn't say whether the difference is a good difference or a not-so-good difference. My takeaway is that he took the less-traveled path of two, and that choice was pivotal.
This gives me cause to reflect on Consciousness. The road to consciousness is not well-traveled. Unlike the freeway to unconsciousness, the road to consciousness takes discipline, courage, fortitude, tenacity, and love. Those commodities are rare for huge numbers of us, and therefore, comparatively few take that journey. It is much easier to avoid our challenges, repeat the same mistakes, remain in our fixation, and stay in our familiar traps. These things pave the road most taken.
Looking over my life’s junctures, I frequently took the road that was most taken. And sometimes, I choose the road that is less taken. But in several pivotal junctures, I did not choose at all— I was too afraid of making the wrong choice, so I deferred, surrendered, and sometimes “punted” to the Divine. Whenever I did this, inevitably, the two roads remained untraveled. Frequently and thankfully, God understood my paralysis and blazed a new road for me. Now I see that this is the way of the soul.
But I am learning that the way of the soul is not chosen out of fear. It is chosen out of the need for union with the Divine.
Spiritual practice: What decision are you facing? Try the way of the soul.
Self-inquiry: What would cause you to choose the path most taken?
Dear God,
At this juncture, I surrender. Amen
