Seeing people through the serpent and dove

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.001 --> 00:00:02.209
Yeah. So in the Christian
tradition we have

2
00:00:02.234 --> 00:00:05.842
the scripture of Matthew 10:16

3
00:00:05.867 --> 00:00:10.020
where we talk about
Jesus says to be as wise

4
00:00:10.045 --> 00:00:13.843
as a serpent
and as peaceful as a dove.

5
00:00:13.868 --> 00:00:17.898
And my mentor Reverend
Alexia Salvatierra

6
00:00:17.923 --> 00:00:21.172
talks about dove
and serpent power.

7
00:00:21.197 --> 00:00:27.656
That serpent power serpent is
being aware of the human nature

8
00:00:27.681 --> 00:00:31.313
of people and our kind
of egoic structures

9
00:00:31.338 --> 00:00:37.134
that make us self-serving
and make us you know

10
00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:40.885
perpetrate you know
violence and oppression.

11
00:00:40.910 --> 00:00:45.742
And then the dove power being
the the other part of our nature

12
00:00:45.767 --> 00:00:47.697
nature that is divinely connected

13
00:00:47.722 --> 00:00:53.236
that is wired for peace that is
wired for love and for harmony.

14
00:00:53.261 --> 00:00:57.394
And then each one of us has this
kind of dualism in our nature.

15
00:00:57.419 --> 00:01:00.072
And so in contemplative activism

16
00:01:00.097 --> 00:01:06.229
we look at humanity with this
lens of having this dual identity

17
00:01:06.254 --> 00:01:12.518
that we expect the CEOs of
corporations to have a serpent

18
00:01:12.543 --> 00:01:16.471
you know part of themselves
where they are self serving.

19
00:01:16.496 --> 00:01:19.181
They are seeking to make
as much money as possible.

20
00:01:19.206 --> 00:01:22.354
But then we also have to see
the dove essence

21
00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:27.264
of them as well as people
who are divinely connected

22
00:01:27.289 --> 00:01:34.897
to our Creator and have a, that
are a part of kind of the spirit

23
00:01:34.922 --> 00:01:36.826
that animates all of us.

24
00:01:37.710 --> 00:01:40.021
And that when we do
contemplative activism

25
00:01:40.046 --> 00:01:44.387
we're aware of the serpent
nature of the oppressor

26
00:01:44.412 --> 00:01:47.346
but we're also aware of their
divinely connected self

27
00:01:47.371 --> 00:01:49.595
and that's the self
we're speaking to

28
00:01:49.620 --> 00:01:52.493
when we're asking them to desist

29
00:01:52.518 --> 00:01:55.487
from you know whatever
it is that they're doing

30
00:01:55.512 --> 00:01:57.587
that we're asking them to stop.

31
00:01:57.612 --> 00:01:59.650
We're appealing to their
dove nature

32
00:01:59.675 --> 00:02:07.649
and asking them and appealing
them to be more connected to that.

33
00:02:12.731 --> 00:02:14.731
Okay, I'll do that again

34
00:02:16.918 --> 00:02:21.043
So the Christian tradition
in Matthew verse 10:16

35
00:02:21.770 --> 00:02:24.449
There's a verse about

36
00:02:25.888 --> 00:02:26.941
Okay

37
00:02:28.317 --> 00:02:32.045
Just one, one sentence, which
I have no idea what that was

38
00:02:36.367 --> 00:02:39.079
So when we're

39
00:02:39.104 --> 00:02:42.624
when we have the opportunity
to speak to the oppressor

40
00:02:42.647 --> 00:02:46.209
and to appeal to them
we want to appeal,

41
00:02:46.234 --> 00:02:50.169
be aware of their serpent self,
right, and their motivations

42
00:02:50.194 --> 00:02:53.984
that may be very much driven
by that kind of serpent power.

43
00:02:54.009 --> 00:02:56.037
But we want to appeal
to the dove power

44
00:02:56.062 --> 00:02:57.701
that's also present in them

45
00:02:57.734 --> 00:03:01.631
that there is that same
spirit that animates us all

46
00:03:01.656 --> 00:03:05.842
that is divinely connected to all
things exists in that person as well.

47
00:03:05.867 --> 00:03:10.170
And so that is the power
with which we want to invoke

48
00:03:10.668 --> 00:03:13.609
from them we want to invoke
a different response from them

49
00:03:13.634 --> 00:03:16.217
by appealing to their dove essence.