“You should either avoid quarrels altogether or else put an end to them
as quickly as possible; otherwise, anger may grow into hatred, making a
plank out of a splinter, and turn the soul into a murderer.” – Augustine
Argument, contention, controversy, difference, fighting, quarreling,
and dissension refer to disagreement and conflict. Quarrel applies
chiefly to a verbal disagreement between individuals or groups and is
used with reference to a large variety of situations, from a slight and
petty difference of opinion to a violent altercation: It was little more
than a domestic quarrel. Their quarrel led to the bar room brawl.
Dissension usually implies a profound disagreement and bitter conflict.
It also applies chiefly to conflict within a group or to members of the
same group.
In July 1831, a volcano off the coast of Sicily
erupted. Out of the water rose an island in the Mediterranean Sea. A
British Royal Navy ship observed it and named it Graham Island after Sir
James Graham, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Sicily also saw the
military importance of the island and named it Firdinandèa after the
King of Sicily. Not to be out done, the French claimed it and desired to
make the island a resort. Immediately, diplomatic wrangling broke out.
For five months conflict raged in newspapers and elsewhere as the
different nations fought over the 200-foot high rock. Tourists traveled
to the island to see its two small lakes. Sailors watched it when
sailing by it. Then on December 17, 1831, officials reported no trace of
the island. As dynamically as the sea mount had appeared, it
disappeared, defusing the conflict of ownership.
The best way
to get over a quarrel is to never start one. It is an honorable thing
when a quarrel is about to erupt to simply take a walk and pretend it
didn’t start. If, there is someone who'd been seeking an avenue to hurt
you; because you offended him in the past, the person may use the
opportunity to accomplish that motive. Turning the whole issue into a
huge conflict.
As you pray this morning, ask God to give you
the grace to fight conflicts and not to embrace them. Confess any sin of
anger to Jesus. Ask Him to give you the wisdom to drop a matter before
it becomes a skirmish.
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