The Road Less Travelled

by Jennie Smith
Secondary Principal

Property of Fred Bruner Photography, 2013

My dad has always been a gifted photographer.  My mom recently showed me one of his latest which displays some of the fall colors here in Arizona.  Yes, contrary to critics, we do have fall colors in Arizona!


This photo reminded me of my favorite Robert Frost 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.

Whenever I have the opportunity to teach this poem, I compare what Jesus said about two roads.  "Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).  Robert Frost found two roads and "took the one less traveled by..."  I'm unsure if Robert Frost was a true believer, but he hit on something that has resonated with me through the years.

The road we walk as Christians is rough - we stumble, we fall, we encounter bumps, and even great mountains stand in our path. It can also seem lonely as we walk with only a few who have found it.  But Robert Frost says it best...."I took the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference."   We can't travel both roads.  Frost says he looks down one path and sees as far as he can see and then decides to take the other one.  We must make the choice.  Although the road is long and rough, I would not want to walk on any other path.  Because it is only on this narrow road that I can walk with the only One who makes all the difference.