"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by..." - Robert Frost

There comes a time in all our lives when we happen upon that fork in the road and ask ourselves:

Whither now?

For once we commit to a path, there is no rewinding the universe and choosing anew. There are many forks along the road that defines our lives, both individually and collectively. Some choices are easy and some are hard, some insignificant and some that change the course of humankind. As the children's illustrator Mary Englebright has shown in a simple yet poignant drawing, once we choose, the other road is "no longer an option". Lest we remain immobilized with indecision, we are sometimes required to fight back the demons of doubt and drive ourselves down that less traveled road.

Our nation has found itself at that fork numerous times in our history. Sometimes we have chosen well, deciding that the greater good was more important than the wealth of the few, and in doing so took the road less traveled, despite the difficult terrain. More often we've ignored the possibilities around the bend, taking the well-trod path, wondering why we remain at stasis.

So it is with these thoughts that I consider our current situation with an alcoholic president drunk on power rather than bourbon, a well-worn path to Germany circa 1933, and a country at a nexus considering whether it has the gumption to divert from the seemingly inevitable trajectory. We have to ask ourselves: Do we possess the will to turn the wheel? Are we willing to endure the ruts and brambles required for change? Is a comfortable journey more important than the destination?...

Or would we prefer the ease of a smooth highway to Hell, paved with good intentions, stained with the verbal sputum vomited forth from the swirling darkness of men's souls intent on driving us headlong into our fiery destination?

It's time we ask ourselves:

Whither now?