A View from a Point

From the Hoi Polloi Tarot, the Seven of Swords; from the I Ching Pack, 'Lake over Earth:'

          I can relate to this guy sneaking away with his armload of thoughts. I did this during the past holiday when the subject came up about the NFL players who knelt during the national anthem (I immediately left the table and became the dishwasher). I'd already gotten into it with this same person over ObamaCare, so I'm well aware of her rigid belief system. If we could have had a discussion rather than an argument, I would have loved to sit down and exchange viewpoints. Last week I had such a open-hearted talk with someone about whether addiction is a disease or not. My perspective is that I don't care whether it's called a disease, disorder or cognitive dysfunction, as long as people don't make it into a moral issue. It felt good to be able to talk without either of us feeling attacked. And both of us came away with a clearer view of why we each think as we do. Which brings me to the 45th hexagram, a symbol of gathering and mingling as the water in a lake does. Is it possible to do this when one party refuses to listen respectfully to another and tries to convert them to their ideas? Richard Rohr says that every viewpoint is just a view from one point. It seems like if we would all take the time to walk around that large lake and see from other perspectives, we might learn more than we think we already know.