High up where the poor sat, the people quaked with fear: they saw the soul stretched on the ground, a votive beast beaten by the conflicting powers of light and dark, and their minds shook, nor knew now what great god to choose, for comfort's road dropped to the right, the rough ascent rose to the left, and both roads seemed to lead to God, while at the crossroads stood the human heart, and swayed.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Suffering people see the soul torn by conflicting forces. At the crossroads of comfort and struggle, the human heart hesitates between paths to God.
- In plain terms
- People see life as a struggle between easy comfort and hard ascent to the divine.
- What can you take from it?
- Choose between comfort and difficult growth when seeking spiritual path.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Which path do you choose when life is hard?
- What does comfort cost you?
Another view
Frames spiritual path as binary choice which may be oversimplified.
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