The Point

Rachel and I were talking Thursday about the interdependent setup that we are hoping to develop on our team at work. It became suddenly very obvious to both of us that this is the way life is in general: engineered so that we need each other.

Clay recently had a similar comment –- he offered that disagreement brings fruit, and fosters community and interaction. He provided this:

C.S. Lewis loved 'rational opposition' and Barfield supplied plenty of this. Besides sharing the same interests, Lewis wrote in Surprised by Joy, Barfield 'approaching them all at a different angle.' 'When you set out to correct his heresies,' said Lewis, 'you find he forsooth has decided to correct yours! And then you go at it, hammer and tongs, far into the night...out of this perpetual dogfight a community of mind and a deep affection emerge.' Barfield compared arguing with Lewis to 'wielding a peashooter against a howitzer'. It must be understood that 'rational opposition' is not quarreling. 'We were always,' said Barfield, 'arguing for truth not for victory, and arguing for truth, not for comfort.'

Clay is right. The interaction that disagreement requires is usually more important than the solution.