Yesterday I was taken aback to see multiple ambulances enter the Woods with their lights on and sirens pealing. I have been going to the Woods for the better part of 4 years, and it is marked by its quiet and serenity. I just read about someone falling from a cliff at the Devil’s Standtable Trail. The woman slipped and fell 55 feet to the ground, according to WFCN News. The woman sadly succumbed to her injuries on a helicopter flight to St. Louis.

We are never really safe. Safety is a myth we wrap ourselves in. I think often of my surroundings and the danger inherent in the environment. During the Ice Storm of 2025, a limb hit me on the shoulder as I trekked through the ice and snow. Today, I saw a tree broken in half and wondered if it had been struck by lightning. As a young man, I developed a habit of looking at my surroundings, including who is in my line of sight, all the time. The Old Man in by head is constantly calculating the danger quotient. I am neither an anxious person nor apprehensive. I do pay attention to where I am and who is with me.

We live in dangerous times. Some folks’ emotions are off the charts. Conspiracy Theories are fueling the fire. Bob Dylan told us that we are going to serve somebody.

‘You may be an ambassador to England or France. You may like to gamble, you might like to dance. You may be the heavyweight champion of the world. You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls. But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed. You’re gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord. But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.’

We are living in the time of the lyrics of the song are playing out. Danger is inherent in lies and conspiracy. One of the first things I learned as a manager at Southern Illinois University was that my words had an inordinate effect on some. At times, what I said as advice was taken as gospel. Questions were assumed to be criticism. Words have power.

Today, we see the rise of Straw Leaders. Not leaders of natural ability or training but con men and charlatans. Their advice to their follower has danger embedded in it. We are being ginned up to fight and hurt each other. Not for cause but for effect on moving the Straw Leaders’ Political Agenda.

The Lost In Space Robot of the 60s popular science fiction show often said, ‘Danger…Danger Will Robinson, who was his primary companion. We need our own Lost In Space Robot today.