One Way To Resolve A Dispute
For almost thirty years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Well, the argument has been settled…I guess. According to an article from the AP, New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has disappeared. Just gone. Rising sea levels have resolved the dispute between the two countries by submerging the island. Apparently no one had lived on this island for many years, so no human beings were displaced. And it isn’t the first island in this area to simply disappear in this way. The purpose of this post is not to weigh in on how global warming may or may not have contributed to the disappearance of this small land mass. As I read this news story, I began thinking about what it might say regarding our personal disuptes and disagreements.
Here is one idea. These two countries were arguing over rocks…okay, I’m sure they saw it as more than that. But from a great distance, that’s how it seems to me. Arguing over rocks. No one lived on this island; there weren’t any permanent structures built on it. How many of the disagreements we have with others–spouse, co-workers, family, church members, etc.–are over small, insigificant issues? How often do we argue over “rocks,” and not over things that really matter?
Here is another idea. Is it possible that as we often argue over insignificant things, something important is overlooked? Two countries were locked in this big debate over who controls a pile of rocks, but somehow missed the point that a roughly 4 square mile land mass was slowly disappearing. A husband and wife constantly argue over the small stuff, and every night their children are watching and listening to this barrage of negativity… perhaps thinking that this is how marriage is supposed to be. A church gets tied up in knots over carpet color or worship order or a dozen other trivial pursuits, losing sight of its mission in the community. While we argue over “rocks,” the island is going under
Are you experiencing any disagreements over “rocks” that prevent you from becoming the person God wants you to be?
One Comment
This is all so true. The problem is that my “rocks” that I view as trivial are really important items to someone else and the “rocks” that are so trivial to them are important to me. The issue becomes, how do we reconcile our two viewpoints.