Are They Kind?

From the Norse Tarot, the Three of Cups; from the Wolf Pack, Release:

We harm ourselves as well as others if we become callous. To judge without being judgmental requires empathy. ―Charles H. Webb

This Three of Cups seems more sedate than the usual celebration filled with dancing. It reminds me of my husband's uncles and aunts from Alabama (sadly now all departed) who used to come to Georgia to visit. They were originally a large farming family, but once they retired, they sought out their kin. I think they missed that feeling of belonging. Release encourages a letting go of our personal opinions about others. We must judge - discerning whether something or someone is safe and healthy for us - but to be judgmental slides into the area of intolerance. We think other people's beliefs are ridiculous and without worth because they are so different from our own. Yet curiosity will show that we are all shaped by individual experiences in different ways. A better scale would be to ask, "But are they kind?"