Escaping the Abyss:

Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.  Friedrich Nietzsche

Go with me on this one.  Allow your imagination to stretch on this one. Imagine for a minute there are two towns: One is a virtual paradise and the other a place called wayside.  Wayside is a place where if you work hard enough for long enough you can make a nice living for yourself.  Now the towns are separated by a deep valley, so deep if you look down in it, you see nothing but shadows.  The towns are on either side of a mountain pass, and if you look over head there is a bridge.  It is said that monsters live in the valley, and monsters protect the bride into paradise.

Many people have tried to enter into paradise, but precious few have made it.  Some have tried to cross through the valley only to be lost in the darkness.  The entrance to the bridge is hidden deep in the mountains.  Few if any ever find the entrance to the bridge.

Now the people who are born in paradise love their home and actually feed and employ the monsters from the abyss to keep people out.  If you have entered into paradise, then you can come back freely.  99 Percent of the people born in paradise never leave it.  99 Percent of the people born outside of paradise in wayside have given up hope of ever reaching paradise.  99 Percent of the people in the abyss have given up hope of ever leaving the abyss.  Because the monsters of the abyss are actually fed and paid by the people of paradise to keep people out.  Once you are in the abyss, if the monsters see you trying to leave, or trying to enter the bridge, they will stop you and pull you back.  You have to know the way into paradise, and you have to avoid the monsters to stand a chance.  Once you are on the bridge you are safe, if you don’t fall off.

Now there is a rumor of a man who worked his way into paradise, and set up a bungee cord on the bridge.  It is said that he has lost a few loved ones in the abyss.  As rumor has it, he is recruiting a team of people to bungee jump into the abyss, locate their loved ones and pull them out.  Now getting caught is a risky proposition, so this is kept very quite.  The monsters in the abyss will try to trap you there in the darkness and you will quickly lose hope of ever leaving.  It is said if you spend too much time in darkness, the light actually burns your eyes, and causes some people so much pain, they would rather stay in the darkness. Hence it is very important to get in and out of the abyss as quickly and quietly as possible.  And if someone is lost in the abyss, it is very important to find the person before they become trapped by the darkness and afraid to return to the light.

Again, this is only a rumor, but rumor has it that if someone bungee jumps into the abyss, it takes at least two people to pull the person out, three if they attempt to bring someone with them.  Also rumor has it, that if the person in the abyss is afraid to leave, or is being held back by the monsters in the abyss, it can take up to seven people to pull the two people out.  If everything does not go well, the person on the bungee cord can be lost to the abyss also.  Again, this is all a rumor, but rumor has it the person who set up this rescue operation was lost in the abyss, and found their way out.

So, for this to work; it is very important that you can find the entrance to the bridge.  You also must have a team ready to pull you out of the abyss.  You also have to get in and out of the abyss as fast as possible.  And the person in the abyss you are trying to rescue must actually want to leave the abyss quickly and quietly.  Remember, people who have been in the darkness too long are actually afraid of the light because it burns their eyes.

The people of wayside can see paradise, and can see the bridge, but they are so afraid of the monsters and the abyss that many of them have given up hope of ever entering paradise.  It is said that every so often people from paradise will come to wayside, but they rarely if ever show anyone the way to get into paradise; they want paradise for themselves.  Again, it is a rumor that there is a precious few people who have escaped the abyss, made it into paradise and are willing to show people how to get to paradise, and also how to get their loved ones out of the abyss.  The problem is fear.  People in the abyss are afraid of leaving the abyss.  People in wayside are afraid of falling in the abyss.  And the people of paradise are afraid of losing paradise.  Remember the people of Paradise will feed and pay the monsters to keep people out.

Now what if I told you, I knew the way into to paradise, and I knew how to escape the abyss, would you be able to overcome your fear?  If I told you for everyone we want to pull out of the abyss we need one person to enter the abyss and seven people to pull them out, would you help pull them out?  Would you enter the abyss to save someone you love?  And what if I told you, if you enter the abyss, there is a chance you might not come back.  Would you still enter the abyss?  What if I told you every trip to the bridge and every trip into the abyss you run the risk encountering and fighting monsters?  Would you still search for and enter the bridge?  Now remember all of this is only a rumor.  Would you believe the rumor?

So what is the moral of all of this?  To cross the bridge from Wayside to Paradise, or to escape the Abyss, you must have Faith, Love and Work as a Team.  You can not be afraid of the light, for the light is truth.  You have to know how to get to the bridge, and the way to the bridge is the truth.  So if you know the truth, have faith and will work as a team you may be able to save the ones you love.  But the ones that you love can not be afraid of being saved; otherwise you both run the risk of being trapped in the abyss.

Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.  I am not afraid to battle monsters, or to gaze into the abyss.  I have been there and gotten out.  I can not prove this works, unless people are ready to work together.  I am convinced together we can not only build a bridge to paradise, but also rescue people from the abyss.  I just can’t do it alone.

Now, have I stretched your mind enough for one day?  Are you ready to escape the abyss?  Would you like to cross the bridge into paradise?  You must know the truth.  You can not be afraid to see the light.  You can not be afraid to battle monsters.  You must be willing to work as a team.  You must be willing to sacrifice for the ones you love.  That is the only way I know to escape the abyss.