Friday, November 26, 2021

day no. 15,740 continued... the long and short of getting along for a short time

“I never discuss anything else except politics and religion. There is nothing else to discuss.” ― G.K. Chesterton

There is something to be said for setting aside your differences for the sake of promoting civility at a large group gathering, but what can't be said is that what is left unsaid is of no consequence. The long and short of getting along for a short time with those you disagree with is setting aside what's most important to you outside of that gathering in order to make the gathering the most important thing to you at the moment. In other words, not saying anything about which you care about most is just another way of saying that what you care about most isn't what you care about most at this moment. Which is just another way of saying nothing.

As Chesterton points out, you cannot discuss things that aren't worth discussing. You can make inoffensive comments about inoffensive topics, but you cant, strictly speaking, discuss anything. To discuss something is to break it down and shake it out. The word discuss literally means dis (apart) + cutere (to shake). You break something down in order to examine its pieces. You reverse engineer something in order to better understand it as a whole. This is something you cannot do without ruffling a few feathers. You cannot shake things out without shaking things up. You cannot keep the peace if you break things into pieces.

Our Lord's example is shaking things up in order to reveal what cannot be shaken. He breaks things into pieces in order to show what cannot be broken. His Word cannot be broken and His Kingdom cannot be shaken.

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.

John 10:35
Scripture cannot be broken.

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