Why Crossroads?

William G. Hoy
Medical Humanities Program
Baylor University

In his Elegies 2,700 years ago, the Greek philosopher Theognin wrote, "I stand at the crossroads." So from ancient times, the notion of a crossroad has been understood as a place of critical juncture, a point of decision, a stepping off into a direction that is likely uncertain.

Crossroads generally afford four possible directions. We can go straight ahead on the same pathway even though we most certainly do not know what is "just over that next rise." We can turn to the right or the left, traveling on highly divergent paths that very probably lead us to quite different destinations. Or, if faint of heart, we can return in the direction from which we have come, exchanging the safety of the known for the opportunities and challenges that are on roads yet untraveled. Of course, there are different times in our lives when any one of these choices might be the right one.

This blog is an attempt to consider the integration of loss with life and faith--sometimes focusing on one of these approaches or another. More often, loss, life, and faith are integrated here because they are integrated in the day-to-day of human existence. I hope we are encouraged to look backward even as we look ahead to consider the opportunities that await us even as we take stock of where we have been. That is, after all, one of the great gifts of grief.
You can read more about my life and work on the About Bill Hoy page. But for the last 35 years, I have accompanied the dying and bereaved even while helping equip this generation of professionals and volunteers who care for them. Today, I spend most of my time teaching and mentoring the next generation of health care professionals in my role as Clinical Professor of Medical Humanities at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I would love to interact with you so please comment on the blog or email me here.

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