Monday, December 31, 2012

Exit Ramps



So, I know Robert Frost's poem about 'taking the path less traveled' is pretty ubiquitous to the point of being overused, but I still like the poem and the sentiment.  And it actually describes where I am at right now.  I started in December fully intent on doing a running commentary on the gospel of Luke.  I am preaching on Luke in worship the first half of 2013 and I like that kind of consistency.
However, starting Sunday January 6th, I am also going to be running a morning bible study at church before worship on the prophet Isaiah.  This has produced a bit of a pull within me.  I love Luke's concern for the poor and that Jesus is so down to earth in Luke and had wanted to share that with you.  But the more I read Isaiah, I also wanted to share my thoughts on that somewhere, somehow with others
And so, I feel a bit like the person in Frost's poem - two roads.  One leads to Luke, the path I promised a month ago.  One leads to Isaiah, a change of plans from what I had promised.
The question is do I take the Isaiah exit ramp?
Here is the great thing about exit ramps...you can always go back to your original road, sometimes the wiser for the other road.  We never know in Frost's poem...maybe the two roads meet back up?  I think the pull to comment on Isaiah here needs to be heeded.  And so, I am going to pause with Luke...fully intending to pick it back up after I comment on the 66 chapters of Isaiah.
This will allow for two things:
1).  To explore this new path to see what fruits it might yield and why I am being tugged to comment on it.
2).  For those who cannot participate in the Bible study on Sunday morning a chance to still be connected in some way.
Also, because it is a new year and 66 chapters would take me all year at a one chapter a week post, I am going to pick up the pace. Instead, I am going to blog on 5 chapters of Isaiah per week.  This will be a good discipline for me to start 2013.  I will blog Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and either Friday/Saturday - giving myself some wiggle room!  I invite you to make one of your resolutions this year to start the year with reading the daily post and following along.  I also invite you to join in the Bible study on Sunday morning.
I think you will find Isaiah a great book of the Bible - thought-provoking and challenging in just the right way.  Much like Frost's 'path less traveled.'  I pray you will join me in this adventure through Isaiah daily as we start the new year.

Blessings and happy new year!

The Road Not Taken

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 marked 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. 

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