As we survey the landscape of A Season in Hell: lynch man, master-leaker Karl Rove off the hook, the horrific image of al-Zarqawi’s dead body placed in a gilded frame, Congress cowing to war-mongers, I realize just how important it is for each of us to humbly and completely admit our mistakes. Because of pride, obsession, blindness, it seems extremely difficult but absolutely essential. It may seem foolish to those who are on the road to destruction, for those who are confused and bewildered, but for those who are being saved we recognize this message as the very power of the individual to analyze culture.

Confess that you are responsible for your choices. You must ask yourself to save yourself from the consequences of your own actions. You must sincerely want to be in a right relationship with the Other. You must also be in a right relationship with that which is Known. You must also want to live a life of potential from here on out. That is impossible to do without insight, and Orf knows this – he who bears witness, who sees all, who doesn’t miss a thing.

Listen to Orf. There is no need to be Left Behind.