In 1997, a quarter of a century ago, you and the rest of humankind made an important decision in what we have called the most monumental decade in the history of humankind on Earth: There would be a future. During that year, it was a profound decision, rippling to the edge of space-time and beyond: There would be a virgin future, untouched by human hands, that would open to a new world. It would be a future created beyond the limits of your belief, one that you can’t create alone, beyond imagination

We also talked at that time of changes that would happen in the future against the backdrop of the ones that would not: the war of terrorism, the fragility of economies, the risk of global economic collapse, and a war of civility in the U.S. Those energies that we spoke of are here. As discouraging as this can seem, you are also still creating that virgin future beyond the touch of human hands, beyond your belief and what you can yet imagine, out of which the new world (and your new world) can emerge. It’s not here yet, but it’s coming. You’re on target, just as sure as you think you’re not. You might say, “This can’t be! This is unfathomable.” It is, isn’t it? “But I thought the unfathomable would be rainbows and flowers and glorious, bright colors with metaphorical unicorns. I didn’t expect this kind of unfathomable!”