Actual Facts

From the Urban Tarot, the Five of Disks; from the Principles to Live By, Discernment:

In the long run, it is far more dangerous to adhere to illusion than to face what the actual fact is.

—David Bohm 

Scott writes that we are fragile beings living fragile lives. The Five of Disks is subtitled Worry; it indicates a threat to our financial or physical security. This card takes me back several months ago when my husband was told he had a cancerous tumor on his kidney. When our knees buckle with such news, it is important to rely on Discernment, the ability to see clearly and objectively. Our emotional reaction can cause us to expect the worst and fear that there is no hope for any sort of positive outcome. When everything seems too big and overwhelming, we need a wise, insistent friend or family member to point out other beneficial alternatives if we take corrective action. As Buddha said, “Good friends, companions, and associates are the whole of the spiritual life.” 

Passion + Discernment

From the Urban Tarot, the Prince (Knight) of Wands; from the Principles to Live By, Discernment:

          This Prince/Knight likes to create a stir, and he has enough energy and enthusiasm to keep it going. Scott's version (a TV journalist) is a bit of a trickster and based on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Like the jester of the court, you might have some laughs but there is a lot of hard truths in the mix too. It reminds me of Stewart's impassioned plea to Congress for health benefits for the 9/11 first responders who were exposed to so much toxic dust in their efforts to help. He may be a comedian, but he also knows how to get things done. Discernment is the ability to see with clarity, recognizing truth without it being blocked by personal opinion, wishes or emotion. Like this Prince, we all have causes we are passionate about. The hard part is balancing our compassion with the wisdom of discernment so that we can be effective.

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. ~William James

In memory of the innocent and brave lives lost.

Polishing the Lens

From the Urban Tarot, the Queen of Cups; from the Principles to Live By, Discernment:

          A grandmotherly therapist listens patiently and jots down notes as her client speaks. Scott describes her as a comforting person who accepts others without judgment. This Queen is the still surface of a pond which reflects back to the person what is in his or her heart and head. She is empathetic - able to relate to and understand another person's emotions. Yet there's a huge difference in "relating to" and "drowning in." While she's willing to get her feet wet, she knows she needs to have boundaries in place. The Discernment tile suggest being able to see clearly and objectively. If I am emotionally entangled in another person's drama, it colors how I see everything. It's like wearing a pair of glasses with red lens; no matter what I look at, I will perceive it in red tones. To be be able to support and encourage another person, I must first check the clarity of the lens I'm looking through.

Seeing reality for what it is is what we call discernment... Reality is always 

deucedly complicated; any human situation has far more to it than first meets

anybody's eye. No one has twenty-twenty discernment. This is why we need

other people to tell us what they see in the same chunk of reality that we are

looking at. ~ Lewis B. Smedes