Paths Taken and Not

Robert Frost, famously, wrote a poem about two roads that diverged in a forest and concludes by saying:

     “I took the one less traveled by, 

     And that has made all the difference.”

On our recent Pastor’s Wilderness Retreat, I hiked both options of a trail that diverged in a forest, and I want to write to you today about my experience on each of them. 

On the first full day of our annual hiking retreat, Rev. Lucus Keppel, Rev. David VanDonkelaar, and I hiked down and away from White Rock Mountain in Winslow, Arkansas. The trail dropped down from the high cliffs of the mountain to a gentle — and sometimes not so gentle — descent into the surrounding valleys. The area is crisscrossed with trails, forest service roads, ATV trails, and rural dirt roads. The Ozark Highland Trail utilizes some of the trails, as well. Hikers must navigate the area, but they are never too far from a path back home. 

On this first descent of the mountain, we chose to go to the right on a forest service road that looked promising. The road would circle around and beneath the cliffs where we were staying. At one point, we could look up and see one of the scenic lookout points near the lodge that served as our home base for the retreat. The road was mostly flat and covered by trees that provided great shade in the unseasonably warm weather. Only a few of the trees had started to show their autumnal colors. It was so warm, in fact, that we almost stepped on a snake that was sunbathing on the road. After that brief excitement, our trail intersected a road that had been closed for several years due to flooding, so we followed it until we reconnected with the Ozark Highland Trail. We ascended White Rock Mountain along a well-maintained and well-used trail that crept up the side of the mountain. It was a beautiful and eventful five-mile morning hike. 

The next day, Rev. Lucus Keppel, Rev. Katrina Richardson, and I took the left option on the forest service road. This trail promised a waterfall and new scenery around an area of the mountain I had not hiked before. While the topographical map suggested that the trail would be relatively flat, the reality was a wavy trail that seemed resistant to anything horizontal. While the previous day the trail was mostly dry, today’s trail was a mix of mud, mud puddles, and muddy wallows where some of Arkansas’s famous razorback hogs must have enjoyed themselves. While the scenery was just as beautiful and lush as the day before, the hike stretched on and on. The waterfall took on (almost) mythic status. “It should just be up ahead.” “Just a little longer.” “It is around the next bend.” When we finally arrived at the “waterfall”, it was dry. After doubling back the way we came, the hike totaled nearly seven miles and several hundred feet more of elevation change from the day before.  

I write all of that not to recount my latest hiking adventure, but to suggest that often in ministry, we do not know where our choices will lead. Paths diverge in front of us, and sometimes we follow the crowd on one path, or we make our own path. Sometimes our path is filled with adventure, newness, and even excitement (yikes, snakes!). But other times, the path winds and winds: a beautiful trail and a waterfall reward our endurance. 

Perhaps what makes the trail so rewarding is not knowing what we will find and where we stumble upon God or a beautiful corner of God’s creation along the way. 

Blessings,

Rev. Tim Blodgett

General Presbyter

Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery