Love Mercy, Act Justly

From the Albano-Waite Tarot, Justice; from the Rumi Cards, Through love:

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. ~ Micah 6:8 

          The combination of these cards made me reach into my biblical memory bank for this verse from Micah. I personally don't believe there can be any balance or equality without an equal serving of compassion and justice. In the words of Robert D. Lupton (founder of Focused Community Strategies), "Mercy without justice degenerates into dependency and entitlement, preserving the power of the giver over the recipient. Justice without mercy grows cold and impersonal, more concerned about rights than relationships." His mention of power and rights illuminates the obsession most Americans have with both. Even when doing what appears to be a charitable act, the effect can be to keep an imbalance of power in place. A wider perspective can be seen in this quote by Pema Chodron: "Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity." I think this is where the last part of the verse above - 'walk humbly' - comes into play.