Choices
Speech made by Gene Davis 5/21/2008
A famous philosopher once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
Could it be that Yogi Berra was trying to tell us something about the choices in our
life? We have had a lot of fun with a seeming dumb open-ended statement that
appears to be without any logic or reasoning. Actually the statement has a lot of
meaning when you put it into the context of when and why it was made. You see,
Yogi was having guests come over to his home in New Jersey. he lived at the end of
a long road that branched off into two different paths, each equal distance, that
would come back together further down the main road. S0, no matter which way you
turned at the fork in the road, you would arrive at his home.
Along our journey we will come across our "Yogi's Fork" along the path and we must
make a choice. We can't see the end clearly and we don't know what's ahead of us or
which choice is the right one, but we know we need to get to the end.
It would help if we had a Yogi guiding us in our choice on how to get there.
We do! Isaiah has told us in his writings; "Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
our ears will hear a voice behind you, saying 'This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21
All along our journey, whatever path we choose, we have been promised that God is
with us, telling us, "this is the way!" have my ears and eyes been closed?
It's only when I finally get past the forks in the road that I sense his presence.
Where is my faith during the unknown? The choices I must make along the journey
should come from my heart! But how do I step out in faith and show my heart, God's
love and grace, through my own actions during these periods of unknowns and
choices I must make? And how do I let others into my heart? how do I respond to
others rather than react? It's easy for me to plan my journey when the path is straight,
well-marked and I can see the destination. It's easy for me to pray about the things I
am most familiar with and can control. I can do this with my eyes and ears closed,
without being aware of God's presence. It is much harder for me to surrender to the
unknown at the forks along my path. When I do surrender, I hear that voice behind
me, telling me "This is the way; walk in it." This is good!