Figures standing still. People are not talking. Clouds overhead, moving faster than realistic. Maybe it’s raining, maybe it’s not, but either way tragedy fills the room. Time progresses as day turns into night and only hours later the sun rises again, calling for another chance, but it’s still dark. Void. Funerals tend to do that. Face you with reality, while it allows people to continue as if nothing happened. Offering condoleances is a conversation starter. We don't linger, but history screams at us why we do not.

They are all dead. Society is what we collectively let happen, but what we created is really in line with what the Godfathers wanted. As you watch the people queue up to pay their respects to those fallen, you wonder; 'What did we lose, apart from a heartbeat?

Once you get to the last coffin in the church, you grew numb, and you just briefly lay your hand on the coffin as if tapping the shoulder of a friend one last time. While stretching your neck to see how many people gathered at the coffee stand you sigh and lean forward to whisper:

“You think they have sandwiches here?”

The man in front of you just shrugs and replies he hopes so, but adds that if it takes too long it won’t be worth the wait. He shares that there is a better place for food not far from here and asks you to come along. Once at the cafeteria - which seems less fine than advertised - you get served a coffee and some food before you engage in conversation.

“Now all the Godfathers died, one would expect changes. But looking back at how recently many of them died as well, nothing changed but variables… I think we’re in the same boat. The waves might rock us around a little, but really nothing changes.”

¨Now change is not a necessity after death." You continue, after putting your coffee down. “Change doesn’t mean moving away from bad. Change means a difference, whatever it is. If we won’t see it now they all died: it tells us we are no different. And that frightens me. I have no idea what those that died stood for. I don’t know what we will miss. Without them are we less? Equal? More? Did we need ‘em? Will we miss them? When a Godfather dies, do we lose a name… or an idea?”

Tara looked down the table to notice DustyKid. A familiar face, albeit one Tara hadn't spoken to much. Still, she was pleased to see someone trying to start a conversation. 

"I think you make a good point here, DustyKid. I don't want to sound disrespectful, but I don't believe it's disrespectful to accurately diagnose reality... so what is the difference between the Godfathers we have now? What is the difference between most of the Godfathers we've had in the past year? Or two? I think that changes only happen when certain individuals make it a point to 

1) try to change the world in some way, even a small one

and 

2) communicate the intent and process of those changes to the larger community

Tara took a bite of her sandwich and chewed before speaking again.

"If you're not trying to do anything different- or if you are, but no one knows about it- well then how are you different from 95% of Godfathers who are doing the same?"

"There are a lot of Godfathers who, I'm sure, do excellent work in-house or behind the scenes. Who bring in money, contribute to their leaders in other ways, and all sorts of admirable things. But how many of them really rock the boat?"

She shrugged.

"I don't think our society rewards people who shake up the status quo. Those people are threats, usually. But if you want me to agree with your larger point that Godfathers should be men and women of vision... people who strive to add to our world or work to improve it through changes... well, I agree with you."

"But is our world really built for that? Do we have a handful of people right now who have ideas on how to improve our world? Do we think they're holding them back in case they become Godfather? Is our world even a place that can handle serious changes? Or have we built our society to remain static?"