The Road Not Taken

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.

By Lin Jie

In my third-year at college in Mainland China, I took a class called Selected Readings in American Literature. During the course I read a famous poem by an American poet, Robert Frost, called The Road Not Taken. The poem is a simple one, but its meaning is so profound that even today, ten years after first reading it and now living in a foreign country, I still often recall it. The poem goes like this:

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 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.

In this poem Frost points out a key life issue: when we find ourselves facing two diverging paths in life, which one do we take? And he points out another truth about this issue: one path will lead to a completely different consequence from the other. And once you take one, there is no going back.

Right now I am facing those diverging paths. There is a question that has haunted me for ten years: should I or should I not go back to school and work for a Ph.D. degree?

Another letter has arrived from home. It is in Daddy's familiar handwriting, and its tone and content are familiar too - the same old words: "You must get your Ph.D. degree. This is your most important investment. Look at your classmate so-and-so. She has her Ph.D. and now she has become a graduate school advisor in a Chinese university. You have been overseas for ten years now, but what have you got to show for it?"

In order to ease the relationship between myself and my parents I have gained my husband's support for going back to school to finish off my degree. The English department at Auckland University has agreed that I may start whenever I like. Personally, I greatly admire English literary figures like C.S. Lewis and John Milton, who while loving their Savior and having dedicated their lives to him, then went on to glorify the Lord by their contribution to the history of literature.

So early in the morning of my brother's birthday, I called home. Daddy was still sounding quite sleepy when he answered the phone. Straight after my opening words, "Say 'Happy birthday' to Brother for me," I said, "Daddy, I'm getting ready to go back to school to study for my doctorate. And my husband's really behind me." I could feel Daddy's delight, just what I was wanting to hear, "Splendid, my child! That's wonderful. This will be great for your future." So I had won my parents' approval.

But before making plans, settling on a topic, coming up with outlines or choosing an advisor, I needed to consult my Heavenly Father. My husband told me, "Pray about it and be sure that this is God's will". I, too, knew that I should ask my Heavenly Father, and especially about the question of why I wanted to get the Ph.D. I kept telling myself that with a degree I could get a college teaching job. But what kind of a future is that? I have taught in college in the past and I have seen all the underhand dealings that go on there to do with public relations and promotions. Without my Heavenly Father's blessing, I realized I could be stepping out onto sinking sand rather than on to the rock of Jesus Christ.

That night, there was street repair construction work going on right outside my house. The noisy machinery woke me up at three o'clock and I could not get back to sleep. So I went into my study alone, opened up my Bible and started reading from Psalm 119 right through to Psalm 150. It had been a long time since I had felt so close to the Lord. Although I often said a prayer in the morning and evening, it was mostly as a formality, and I had not been able to hear or understand the Lord's voice. But here were the writers of the Psalms spelling out everything that was going on in my mind. The Lord had heard my prayer and I felt greatly comforted and eased. I went peacefully back to bed.

When I woke up the next morning and opened Daily Light as usual, I was astonished at the first few words, which basically meant, "The Lord has said, 'You are not to go back that way again.' (Deut. 17:16)" My astonishment quickly faded and I did not take it very seriously.

On the fourth morning, I once again read: "You are my friends if you do what I command." (John 15:14) My immediate reaction was that I wanted to be a friend of the Lord, but what were his commands? Then somehow I thought back to the verse I had read nine years earlier.

In July 1991, as I was preparing to move from England to the Canadian New Finland University to pursue my Ph.D. in English literature, I attended a two-week course at the summer Bible Institute which changed my whole life. A missionary to China came to the Institute to show us a film of the life of believers in China. Afterwards during refreshment time she asked, "Are any of you here from China?" Everybody pointed at me. She came over and asked me, "What is your major in?" I said, "Literature," then I added, "I'm moving to Canada next month to start my Ph.D. program." She said, "I think you should stay here and take a job." She had a lot of faith and her positive tone astonished me!

The job she was referring to was translating Christian literature. After I got back to London from York, the publishing company called me. I said I wanted to pray about it. Then I realized that I really did have to pray! I had only been a believer for three months and I did not know what I was meant to do. Then one day I opened the Bible and read First Corinthians Chapter 14. This chapter talks about spiritual gifts, including tongues and the interpretation of tongues. I was startled when I read verses 37 and 38: "If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored."

I was a new believer and I did not know that tongues and interpretation of tongues were special gifts. But I did know that if somebody translated good English literature into Chinese, non-English speaking Chinese believers would really appreciate them. So in my mind, translation is a special gift. My first reaction was, "I don't want to be ignored by the Lord!"

I have been doing this work for nine years now. But now here I was wanting to go back and have another try for my Ph.D. degree. But I also saw that to be a friend of the Lord I must obey the Lord's commands. It was the Lord who had commanded me to take on this job, to serve him as well as all Chinese people. I have also repeatedly told myself or testified to myself, my family and my friends that translating Christian literature is the work I enjoy most of all. It is challenging and it makes good use of my professional training. It has a good future too. Unlike nine years ago, I am no longer afraid of being ignored by the Lord, but now I want to focus on being the Lord's friend.

Unlike Frost the poet, I don't have to sigh today. I can speak with thanksgiving and joy of what I have discovered. I have found my Heavenly Father, my Lord. And I have also chosen the very best path for myself.

The author lives in New Zealand.