Making The Better Choice

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 Road Not Taken, Robert Frost

In these days of high school graduations,  I have been thinking today about choices.  Above you will find words from Robert Frost’s classic poem, “The Road Not Taken”, where a person decides to take the “road less travelled by.”  We face choices everyday- what to eat… whether to answer a phone call or text message… what way to travel to work or other places.    Some of those choices are quite important and others seem to be trivial and inconsequential.   

I have been thinking today when I faced a choice many years ago.  I had accepted the invitation to speak at a high school graduation ceremony.  I had my address ready and prepared.   On the day of the event, something came up that was important.  What should I do faced with two important events on the same day?  What choice would I make?       To the chagrin of the headmaster,   I backed out of the address to the high school graduates.    What was so important that I made that choice?    I made that choice because about the same time that day my oldest daughter, Heather Elizabeth, was born.    I felt it was more important to be there for the birth of my daughter than to be there to speak to the high school graduates as a pastor.

Sometimes,  the choices we face in life are  not between good and evil, but between things that are both  important.   What is the better choice at the time?     I thought being there to witness the birth of Heather Elizabeth was more important, and I have no regrets.    We hear a story in Luke 10 about a choice that was made by a follower of Jesus, Mary.   Listen to the story:

³⁸ Now as they were traveling along, Jesus^[z] went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and kept listening to what he was saying. ⁴⁰ But Martha was worrying about all the things she had to do, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don’t you? Then tell her to help me.”   ⁴¹ The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. ⁴² But there’s only^[aa] one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better,^[ab] and it is not to be taken away from her.”

I cannot recall what I had prepared to say to those high school graduates many years ago, but what I would say to them today is this:    Life is filled with choices.  Make the better choice.    Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:  O Lord and God, give us wisdom as we face the choices that are before us in this day, this week, and this life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.