Dying without enemies

A man died last week who had no enemies. I wondered if that was good.

While many people might strive to have the number of friends this man had - might want to fill a church twice over with mourners - I could not help but wonder why no one disliked this man. I reflected on what I knew about him and realized that he seldom had confrontational conversations. He was a master at talking about seemingly generic topics and at avoiding issues that might be controvercial. When a discussion began to get heated, he chuckled and said "I'll have to look into that" before it reached a boil. He fought no battles. He championed no cause. I thought this was not good.
 

If it is true that each of us has a special purpose in this world, then it seems to me that we all have something about which to be passionate. Those who disagree with our beliefs create dialogues that open minds and create even more dialogues. As long as the discussions are based in truth and started in an attempt to broaden our knowledge and understanding, all conversations have value whether there is agreement or not. It's when these discussions become heated that they stop being discussions and become arguments which are much less productive.

So how does a person live a life in which they have no enemies? I guess the secret is not in never disgreeing with someone but the manner and respect with which you do it. It's knowing when and how to diffuse a situation so it never reaches the boiling point of an argument. Maybe it's knowing right time to chuckle and the right thing to say after. I'll have to look into that.