Is
it good to rely on others or is it wiser to be as independent as
possible? How would you define: (a) Dependence? (b) Independence? (c)
Interdependence? (Serendipity Bible 10th
Anniversary Edition, page 1192).
Think
of any analogy to a human social community and you will find that
interdependence is a product of independence and dependence. Take for
example a car engine. A functioning engine requires a high degree of
active interdependence. But this interdependence would not be
possible unless all parts of the engine maintained integrity and were
in a sense independent and self-reliant. But the parts alone would
make little sense and would accomplish little as isolated parts. It
is through dependency that all parts function well towards the end of
transforming one form of energy into another.
This
observable reality is why it is possible to make all of the following
arguments: Independence is the key essential; Dependence is the key
essential; Interdependence is the key essential. Since all these
arguments are defensible in a social setting, politics is unavoidable
as the various arguments attempt to exert influence. The successful
society is one that can incorporate conflicting points of view and
derive strength and system integrity through the working out of
different philosophical proclivities. But this inevitably requires a
degree of trust and even a kindly nod to mysticism.
There
is a sense in which the God hypothesis advances and underwrites the
conceptual resolution of logical tensions. It is a way to transcend
conceptual impossibilities. It makes tangible (though the disciplines
of love) the creative dynamism of the squared-circle, the
inexplicable actualization of Trinity. All believers (as do I) additionally
are given the set conviction that the Trinity transcends any human
conceit.
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