It‘s the heart that matters most

The Hound and the Minstrel came to a bridge.

She looked at him carefully for a minute. Her eyes traveled from him to the bridge and then back to him.

"This part of the March you must travel alone. There are questions you must both ask of yourself, and within yourself find answers for. There are truths you can only find within your own heart. This part of the March is

where you will learn to judge the depth of your commitment. You Humans are a funny species, you all measure commitment in dif-ferent ways using your own ru-lers and yardsticks. You start this part of the March by crossing the bridge you see before you. I will find you on the other side. There is one additional require-ment. You must take this walk wearing the boots of another."

He was so confused he almost laughed out loud. “So all I have to do is lace up a pair of someo-ne else’s boots and walk across that bridge?” He asked.

She again looked at him careful-ly. “Yes”, but its best on this part of the March not to judge the

distance by what you see.” She winked.

“You will be waiting for me on the other side?” He asked

“Yes, I will be.” Came her reply.

He sat on the ground and took off his shoes. Next to her he saw an old pair of work boots. The leather aged and cracked. The soles worn. But they possessed what felt like a soul of their own. There were holes at the top of each boot. He noticed that someone had long ago drawn a small peace symbol on the outer side of both heels.

The Bridge and the Boots

He put them on, laced them up and stood. “Whose boots are these” he wondered.

“They belong to a man, a good man. A man who has been Marching for a very long time.” She answered.

He began his walk out onto the bridge.

A few steps out and he found he was in a thick dense fog. He looked over the sides of the bridge and was immediately taken back by what he saw.

He could make out the outlines of people gathered together; a man was singing an old song…something about “we shall overcome, someday.”

As he continued on, the scenery changed. He saw people in different clothing sitting in a coffee house; they were passionately talking and ar-guing. He heard the words of another old song…something like “Come gather round people wherever you roam"

He stopped to collect his thoughts. Looking around he realized that he had traveled exactly half way across the bridge.

Thinking to himself, he concluded that this walk across the bridge was going to be easy.

As he took his very next step, the bridge became alive with activity. There were people moving in many different directions.He did not recognize any of them. They were not his fellow Marchers. There were groups for-ming and then disbanding. Hounds were everywhere. Out of the cor-ners of his eyes he could see more and more coming. There seemed to be no direction or purpose to where they were going.

He also found that the boots had become heavier

He began calling out to both the Humans and the Hounds. Trying to find a connection that allowed all to hear him. “Come, follow me. Let’s get off of the bridge and figure this out” he announced.

He stepped forward and found that the boots were even heavier than before.

He kept calling to them.

Some began to follow, but more and more were coming. He continued to call out, he continued to push forward.

The boots became unbearably heavy. There were so many it was over-whelming. He wanted to just sit down, take the boots off and run from the bridge. Leave all of it behind. The more that came, the heavier the boots became. He sat down.

He looked into the fog and saw her standing at the end of the bridge. He re-membered why it was he had begun Marching and more impor-tantly what it was he was Marching for.

He stood back up. The boots were even hea-vier, the number of hounds ( and Humans) even greater. He pu-shed forward with everything he had. He left nothing on the table. He cleared his mind of the doubt and the

pain. More and more followed.

When he arrived at the end of the bridge, she was waiting. He looked behind him and found that there was nobody there. No Humans, no Hounds. Had he dreamed this he wondered.

She asked, “The boots became heavy didn’t they?”

“Heavy does not describe how they felt.” He replied.

“Imagine having to wear them every day, they grow heavier and heavier.” She said.

He looked down at the boots with great respect, admiration and a sense of awe. He carefully took them off and returned them to her

She told him that he should go home and rest. She told him he had done well and that they would begin again tomorrow

He started walking. He heard a strange sound coming from behind. He stopped and through the fog he saw two round headlights coming across the bridge.

He almost could not believe his eyes. A pristine VW bus pulled up along-side him. The guy driving rolled down the window and stuck his head out. “Hey man, you need a ride?”

He looked at the fellow and marveled at the length of his hair. “Thank you, that would be great” he said

He got in and they started driving. What the hell he thought, this thing only has an A.M. radio. At that very moment the guy said “Groovy sound man” and turned the volume knob up. “Have you heard this new song, Kris wrote it and Janis sings it?"

The Minstrel listened and heard… ‘Freedoms just another word for, nothing left to lose.'

“Yes I have heard it, Pink just rerecorded it” He said

“Far out man, far out! Who's Pink?"

He thought about it for a minute and then asked “So, where is it you are going tonight that took you across that bridge in this fog?"

“Man I am heading up to this cat Max’s farm. He answered. "Where are you going to?” he then asked

The Minstrel thought for a minute and said “to March, I am going to March”

“Cool as hell man, you should come with me, you can March there. We are going to change the world!” he replied.

The Minstrel considered his words carefully. "Yes you are going to save

the world. You are going to strike a chord that will sound in the hearts of all mankind for generations to come!"

"So very cool man, so very cool! You wear your freak flag with pride. You gotta come with me" he implored.

A slight smile came over the Minstrels face, "My friend do you by any chance know how to draw a peace sign? I would really like a couple on my shoes"

"Wow man, I must be tripping. I gave this kid a ride right before I crossed that bridge. He had on a brand new pair of boots. He had peace signs drawn on the sides of the soles. So, are you coming with me to Max's farm?"

The minstrel found his eyes were welling up with tears as he said " this will make about as much sense to you as it does to me but I kinda think you may be coming with me."

"Okay, so where is it we're going" he asked

"Back to the garden, we gotta finish what you started. We are going to re-write a little piece of history. We are going to save many, many lives and do exactly what you said. We are going to change the world!"

We are Stardust, We are Golden!

For as long as it takes!

We Believe!

We March!