As the saying goes, "When you come to the fork in the road… take it!”  We are at a place in the year when we look back over what was and anticipate what is coming.  In looking back, there are certain years that are forever defined by one event.  From 1776 to Pearl Harbor, to the attack on the World Trade Center, unfortunately, it has often been conflict that has defined our lives.

This may be the case until we are able to live on a higher level.  What no one could have anticipated after the attack on the World Trade Center was the way in which our country responded.  Among ourselves, God’s name was spoken with reverence in conversation.  Prayer became an acceptable political option.  People spoke openly about faith and friendship.  As a nation, we remembered the things that truly matter have little to do with the way most of us have chosen to spend our lives.  We realized how temporary life really is and how much more important people are than things.

We have a young friend who had the following experience.  He had gotten behind in his rent.  The day after the attack on the World Trade Center, he went to his landlord to ask for mercy and see what arrangements he might make for catching up.  The landlord chose to respond with kindness.  He told the young man “After yesterday, nothing like this is really important.  Do the best you can when you are able.”  Does it have to take a catastrophe to open our hearts to love?

The thing about the fork in the road where love is concerned is that we have three choices.  We can head full speed down the highway crowded with selfishness.  Or, we can veer away from the crowd and dare to take the narrow, rocky road love demands.  The third response is to stand at the fork, and do nothing.  My own father believed we should at least make choices.  Instead of giving us advice when we faced a dilemma, he often told us, “Do something, even if it’s wrong.”  Of course, we knew he didn’t mean for us to deliberately make a wrong choice.  The point was he preferred that we try and fail rather than not try at all.

In the second half of our lives, we have the gift of perspective.  We sometimes feel as though we are able to fly above the crowd and see the broader scope of life.  We see young families struggling to find work and make ends meet.  We wish we could tell them how temporary life really is.  Everything must be transformed or end.