And That Has Made All the Difference

I have a friend who is struggling right now with several different problems all at once, and it is becoming overwhelming, almost to the point of inactivity.  Today at work he said worry flooded his soul and for a moment he imagined us as just specks in the universe.  None of it mattered in the grand scheme of things.  Instead of bringing the peace of epiphany, it made him feel alone and insignificant.  Why bother if it all doesn't matter?  Thankfully he pulled himself away from the negativity and relaxed in faith.  It is important because this is our lives.  No, it may not be newsworthy, but our problems matter.  We should not have guilt over having bad days.  We are not living in ingratitude when we acknowledge our own pain and limitations.  Worry is a natural, human emotion.  Fear is real.  Pain happens.  It is how we live and respond to our worries, fears, and pain.  Only when we find the truth of our pain can we release ourselves into our faith and live in thanksgiving.   It is easier to walk in faith when the world is bright and shiny but acceptance of the dark enlarges our perceptions of what truly matters.

The Road not Taken

Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, 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 feet 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 travelled by,
and that has made all the difference