Risk – (December’s time is here)

         There is a wonderful verse in the sixth chapter of Jeremiah that begins, “Stand at the crossroads and look…”  Every day we are actually doing the ‘’ standing at the crossroads,” and when I am awake enough to remember this fact, I feel more alive.

         The truth is there are little and great crossroads moments for all of us.  We do that in our planning out of the tasks of the day.  We do that when we pull out of the driveway.  We do that in our intentional quiet moments and in our conversations.  We do that in the food we eat, the exercise we choose.

         For me lately, my crossroads seem to be about forgiveness and moving on.  This past spring a vocational change happened abruptly and it sent me reeling.  And because I don’t live on an island, but in a family, and as I am connected to an amazing Village, this change also deeply impacted those close to me.  Our daily rhythms and routines were brought to a screeching halt – and it felt as though all we could do was keep putting one foot in front of the other.

         And now after almost six months I am aware of the shifts that have happened (and continue to happen) inside me, as well as the shifts that appear to have happened (and continue to happen) to those I am connected to.  And my best description is about being at crossroad after crossroad after crossroad.

         And maybe it’s grace, maybe this is just a good day today, but this shift doesn’t feel as awful as it did months ago.  This shift of being at the  crossroad, is about realizing that I’m not stuck or forced to follow one path only (one foot in front of the other).  This crossroad opens my eyes and my heart to a word that I thought I’d forgotten: possibility.  This crossroad image opens me to the reality that there are now choices to be made.  Some choices are as concrete as whether or not to get up in the morning or just stay under the covers; others are as vast as whether or not to forgive and let go of what has bound me.

         My symbol of risk these days is the image of standing at the crossroad and looking.  Not stopping.  Not turning around.  But looking.  And what keeps me grounded in my faith is that the verse from Jeremiah reminds me to look for (or better to remember and hold in my heart) “the ancient path.” 

         Standing at the crossroads isn’t about being frozen in one place, unable to do the next thing.  Standing at the crossroads is being at a place of choice and trusting that some guide will be there to lead me – not in the perfect way (no guarantee of a Hollywood ending), but will lead me in the next way and for me, for this day, that is more than enough.   

Risk: At today’s crossroad: risk your next possibility

Lesley Brogan is tethered to her village. The middle daughter of a middle daughter, she and her partner co-parent two boys (11 and 8) with their two dads. Life rarely seems easy, but in it, there is energy and wisdom -- and, it seems -- just enough humor to get the village through their days.
Email this author | All posts by Lesley Brogan