The journey continues...
Before you stretches a chasm, the only way across it a rickety rope-and-plank bridge of sorts .... It's as if no one has used it for a very long time. You have no idea if it would support your weight or would collapse and send you into the abyss below. The wind whips at your clothes and hair. You feel so alone.

"Don't be deceived!" a deep voice shouts. "It's sturdier than it appears." You search the foliage on the other side. At last you spot a face, then another. Soon you realize there are many faces, all staring in your direction.

"Join us!" one of them yells. You wonder if this means an exchange of ideas, philosophies upon which to build a better world, or if they are only trying to lure you into some type of trap. But like many decisions in life, you face this one alone.

"How do you know you can trust me?" you yell back.

A woman emerges from the forest and walks toward the bridge. She stops at the other end of it, exactly opposite you. She is smiling. "You wouldn't be here," she calls, "unless you were one of us. Nobody comes down this path who doesn't need to."

That surprises you. "Who are you?" you ask.

"We are the lost ideals and values!" one answers.

"We are freedom!" says another.

You cross the bridge, deftly negotiating the missing and broken planks, ignoring the strong wind. For the first time in your life, you feel a strange exhilaration coupled with a renewed sense of hope.

A male spokesperson greets you with his outstretched right hand. "The trouble with opinions is they're worthless unless they're based on solid information, and today getting the whole truth is difficult," he says. "But we can try. Our goal is to build a real bridge of understanding."

They all rush forward to meet you, talking at once.

"Have you ever considered the illogic of blaming 'they'?" one is asking. "If you consider that we are the people who have the jobs that run the businesses and government in our cities, states and this great planet, then 'they' is all of us. WE are 'they' and need to rethink our blame-placing helpless passive-aggressiveness."

Another one is saying, "I can never understand why we keep dumbing down instead of expecting people to rise!!" And you know you have found where you belong.