Starry Sky Journal

Anna Anna Bo Banna Banana Fanna Fo Fanna Fee Fi Fo Fanna

Word games can be really funny.

Or not.

A group of friends recently discussed a news report one of us had seen siting a study that those who don’t watch much tv are more prone to extremist views than others. Apparently some things don’t bother you as much the more you see them. (they don’t call it programming for nothing…) After a while the shock value goes way down and you just say, “That is the way it is.” That is, unless you find tv rather mind-numbingly boring and predictable, have a stack of books waiting to be read, a larger stack of projects to finish, spend an abundance of time outdoors, and generally are hesitant to spend precious free time in front of canned entertainment.

If you are one of the latter and you occasionally turn on the tube you might just go, “Whoa Nelly!” You might wonder when the heck it stopped being disrespectful for kids to roll their eyes at parents and started being uproariously funny. You might wonder when frank discussions of all manner of abhorrent behavior became common ‘over-coffee’ chatter. You might find it really odd that some folks consider viewing scene after scene of their fellow man being sliced and diced relaxing. You might wonder how the seven deadly sins became an accepted mode of entertainment. You might just be “extreme”. I might almost give them that. With one important qualifier – extreme in comparison. Those two words are critical to the debate.

Increasingly today those who do not “get with the program” are viewed with suspicion, if not outright disgust. The message expressed is that if you do not enthusiastically support what amounts to a radical change in culture (change in terms of centuries, not decades) you must be the one with the problem.

Growing up, few of us escaped the rhetorical question, “If all your friends were jumping off a cliff, would you?” It was rhetorical because there was only one right answer – no. We were expected to think for ourselves and make sound decisions, despite the folly of the majority. That was considered a virtue, not a vice. My, how things change. Should you find yourself at the edge of the abyss today, and venture to suggest that perhaps turning back might be a valid option, you are extreme. What is your problem anyway? You must not like jumpers. You probably think you are better than the jumpers, don’t you? Since it is commonly accepted that group think is more reliable than independent thought you are automatically suspect.

This poses a problem when the whims of the majority are based on personal opinion versus on truth. Truth is another tricky word. I imagine many heads shake at the mention of it, much like Pilate’s did. Truth, schmuth. What is that anyway? It is generally accepted that there isn’t any ONE truth. Truth is whatever you believe…. unless you believe something currently not in vogue. Then you are – you know this one – extreme.

There is a verse in Jeremiah which advises us to “Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”

This always seemed wise to me. By nature I am a rather cautious person. I am especially skeptical of novelty, which so rarely passes the test of time. I like to have a pretty decent chance of success and a restful soul is appealing to me. Increasingly I believe an old path is more likely to lead to that good way. I haven’t seen a lot of truly peaceful souls going down the other roads. Still the old paths are nearly abandoned now. Jeremiah saw this coming when he reported the response of the people. They didn’t jump for joy and thank him profoundly for his prudent direction. Instead they said, “We will not walk in it”

I bet they thought Jeremiah was extreme too.

We are standing at crossroads today as well. There are many voices competing for our attention. It is as if there are neon signs flashing, “This way!” Despite the earnest, sometimes insistent voices, we, like every generation before us, must “consider our path.” We face a unique challenge because for the first time since Constantine the old roads are likely to be scorned as never before. You may be trotting along in much the same way your ancestors did. If so, you can expect to be told you represent a radical departure from the norm – and you might be that because, hey, normal is pretty variable just now. It is subject to ongoing interpretation and adjustment.

Just remember you are not making a radical departure from time tested living. You are staying the course, though the effect is much like sitting at an intersection next to a car slowly inching forward. It can appear that YOU are the one moving backward. It is actually the cultural pendulum that has swung wildly and flung folks far down paths that have not always led to a good way. However, reality is that standing steadfastly in the midst of that chaos may be interpreted as rigidity and even regression. The words have changed and it’s not a game anymore. What was once a virtue is now a vice.

While showing all due respect towards those who are enthusiastically heading down a different direction, we must make our own choices at the crossroads, if at all possible based on timeless truth. Contrary to popular belief we cannot have it all. Choosing rightly can make all the difference.

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.

– Robert Frost