Paving The Road to Hell
Yes, the sound you hear is Jesus rattling my cage again with another parable. (Why does it always have to be about two brothers?) Again a man had two sons. He simply wanted work from them both. One said,

Sure, Dad, I'd be happy too.

But he didn't go. The other said,

Hey, I have better things to do today.

But he changed his mind and went. So which one did his father's will? The one who said he would- and didn't; or the one who said he wouldn't- and did?

It's a no brainer, of course. The one who did his father's will is the one who DID his father's will, not the one who said he would. Can we be harsh on the first one? (Well, yes, but let's not.) He had great intentions. He was going to do it. But you know how things come up. Maybe next time, huh, Dad?

No wonder I have been told since I was a child that the road to hell is paved with just such good intentions. You have to live them, not say them. You have to do them, not promise them. You have to make them real, not just wishful thinking.

Oh, how easy to live in the intentions. How easy to make a promise and then lose sight of it. How simple to be willing but not do it.

Passion is one thing. The long haul to do it, Ah, but that's another altogether. Maybe that's why I should, at times, be president of my own hell-road paving company.

The good intention, the “Yes,” taken in vain, the unfulfilled promise leaves a residue of despair, of dejection. Beware! Good intention can very soon flare up again in more passionate declarations of intention, but only to leave behind even greater desperation. As an alcoholic constantly requires stronger and stronger drink, so the one who has fallen under the spell of good intentions and smooth-sounding declaration constantly requires more and more good intentions. And so he keeps himself from seeing that he is walking backwards.
Soren Kierkegaard posted on Bruderhof.com from Provocations available FREE in e-book format.