Embracing Two Sides

From the Shining Tribe Tarot, the Lovers; from the Animal Tiles, the Hawk:

          Well now there's a position I've never tried - suspended in midair. Pollack has chosen to pair an angel with a human, suggesting we embrace both our human and spiritual sides. Mary Jaksch writes that there are three core experiences for being able to live from both parts:
1) The present moment is a doorway.
2) Ordinary notions of 'self' are recognized as limiting, separating 'us' from 'them.'
3)  Awareness of interconnection becomes natural with mindfulness.
So if I live this way, then basically that means I'm a partner with every living thing. I have a commitment to care for all creation, human and otherwise. But before I take off on a head trip of "all is light and love," Hawk flies in with the gift of discernment, the ability to see with clarity and objectivity. No rose-colored glasses are needed. Seeing from a larger perspective means I don't have to hate, but I might need to take a stand, set a protective boundary or try to change an unjust situation. For instance, I may loathe Trump's views, but I don't have to wish him harm. Instead, I just don't have to vote for him.

Bearing witness is not only about understanding what drove “them” to do such terrible things. The practice is also to look deeply and with precision at the innumerable ways that they are us and we are them...Cultures do not spring forth from nothing. They are created by people - we the people. As such, these acts of violence, allowed for by our laws and lionized by our culture, reflect something poisonous in each of us. ~  Joshin Brian Byrnes