The Point of Departure

When we find ourselves on a wrong road, our first reaction is to look back and think at what point we departed from the right road. But sometimes we may have gone a long way before we are fully aware that we have left the right road. This is true of many things in life. Sometimes changes come so gradually that we may not always be aware of how far we have gone; for example, we may not always know when it was that we acquired a habit, but we pretty well know when we have a habit. We cannot always be sure, from first symptoms, when a man will become a drunkard. In the first phases of the process, people may not always be aware of how fast or how far they are losing their freedom. But if they continue, there comes a time when they know they have lost their freedom. Many things come a step at a time by willingly going the wrong way. And while the first step may not at first seem to suggest serious consequences, still there is no such thing as an inconsequential departure from principle. And in looking back we shall find that the first step, the first time, the first point of departure is the critical point—for second steps have a way of following first steps. In some respects it may be compared to a person who climbs a precarious cliff. Each handhold or foothold is not a stopping place, but only a momentary place to pause. And when he looks back at some point, it is apparent how hazardously he has come and how far he is from safe footing. Or it may be as the man who lets himself down into a deep hole on a ladder—a ladder that is just a little short; and so he lets loose the last rung and drops down. But having let loose, he may find it impossible or at least exceedingly difficult to reach the rung again. Any point of departure from principle is a critical point—for the first step leads to the second, and further steps follow in order. And no matter how easy it is, a journey on the wrong road is disappointing and often disastrous—for it just doesn’t arrive at the right end.