“Two roads diverged in a wood and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost

Maybe you’ve never thought of your life in those terms. But everyone, whether they are aware of it or not, has selected a particular pathway in life. The most popular road seems to be aligned with what the world tells us we need — a nice home, a fancy car, a good job, exciting sports events, live entertainment and travel to exotic places. We are told, at least subliminally, that focusing on and fulfilling our needs and wants will lead to a successful, happy life.

However, where does this road actually lead? {Play}

It may be beneficial to observe what has happened to others on this self-centered road. Stories abound of people who thought they had it made in life but ended up lost either due to their own mistakes or someone else’s.

Are we carefully assessing where we are headed or do we think there is plenty of time to make adjustments along the way? Before you know it, you may find yourself way past any side streets that could have taken you down another road — the one less traveled.

Earlier this year, the world began to find itself held hostage by the coronavirus. It hijacked our pursuit of a nice home, fancy car, entertainment, travel opportunities and any kind of job.

What is left? Thank God we have our families,friends and many folks coming to the aid of others. It is amazing what this world crisis has shown us through the goodness of people helping people. Maybe this road less traveled is the one more of us should embark upon. And we may have missed this unexpected detour if not for a world crisis that eliminated our distractions.

Have you heard this before? “We live by sight, not by faith.” If it sounds familiar, it may be because many of us live our lives this way. Living by sight, after all, is how the world expects us to live. That’s why there’s so much “stuff” out there
being advertised as the way to find happiness and fulfillment — and we oblige by over-consuming.

The only problem with this is real life does not support this. We see famous people who have attained more stuff than they will ever need with lives that do not have happy endings.

“We live by sight, not by faith” is incorrect.

The Bible says, “We walk by faith, not by sight,” not the other way around. The “walk” here is a metaphorical reference to the way a person conducts his or her life.

A fulfilling and meaningful life in which transitory material possessions are not the goal is the road less traveled. We must choose this road and decide to not build our lives around things that have no eternal significance.

It requires faith to live this way because we cannot see, hear or touch anything spiritual.

If we base our lives on giving to those in need rather than following the popular “material world” philosophy of our day, maybe we’ll be able to look back years from now and see that there were some positive moral changes made as a result of this worldwide pandemic.

I hope so.