"In this kingdom of illusions we grope eagerly for stays and foundations. There is none but a strict and faithful dealing at home, and a severe barring out of all duplicity or illusion there. Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves, but deal in our privacy with the last honesty and truth. I look upon the simple and childish virtues of veracity and honesty as the root of all that is sublime in character. Speak as you think, be what you are, pay your debts of all kinds."--Ralph Waldo Emerson
A few holiday seasons ago, I watched television images of people pulling down the Berlin Wall. I knew then that this did not signal an end to danger, but the beginning of a time of danger and opportunity in a post-Cold-War world. The end of the dysfunctional equilibrium seems to be playing out like a paperback potboiler.
I think that the best anyone can hope for now is to be like the Samaritan in the story--less hung up on being right or orthodox, and more atturned to bandaging up the folks who get left along the roadway.