Living in Hope

SOCIAL HARMONY Confrontation should be avoided at all costs and no factor which can produce positive results should be rejected or ignored. Even if such an approach seems lengthy and complicated, it is the only procedure which can lead to harmonious living in society. O nce, a dispute arose between two farmers, over the boundary of their fields. The dispute, which to begin with, concerned a piece of land, developed into an issue of honour. Withdrawing the respective claims, they thought, amounted to losing face. Thus, the quarrel which had started on a petty issue was blown out of proportion, and neither party was willing to make a compromise. Things went from bad to worse. Murders were committed on either side, and fields were cut and burnt, until eventually the matter was brought to court. The procedure was lengthy, and the cases were brought to an end only when both the parties had lost everything in the process—fields, orchards, jewels and so on. To recover something of lesser value, they had lost everything.