Seek to Understand

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Seek first to understand.

Listen. Learn.

Then, you’ll cultivate an opportunity to be understood. Although you probably don’t expect everyone to love you (or even like you), most humans hope to be heard and understood. Genuine desire for understanding seems to be in short-supply.

Opinions expressed on social media flood the public square with uninformed and half-baked vitriol. Every crank with a smart phone or keyboard can vent profusely. It’s exhausting. Discouraging. And quite mind-numbing. The current condition of public discourse reminds me of a wonderful dialogue from The Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy: “How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain?”

Scarecrow: “I don’t know…But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking…don’t they?

The writer of Proverbs 18:2 (NIV) states it more eloquently and bluntly, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” No one really wants to be thought a fool, but so many folks LOVE to spout their opinions on the controversy of day. Wisdom from the ages - revealed by our Creator - hits the mark. He knows and understands us even when we don’t understand Him.

Maybe we should enjoy investing more effort to understand the thoughts, experiences, and perspectives of those with whom we disagree. Their views may be deeper and larger than you ever imagined. We must forge a more productive avenue for engaging and understanding. Then, and only then, will we earn the right to share a larger view.

7 Comments

  1. Joe Lovell on October 31, 2019 at 10:32 pm

    First Comment! I win!
    Seriously, well done and well said, sir. But will anyone read? Will anyone listen? Such people are hard to find. Keep searching.



  2. David J. Fisher on November 1, 2019 at 4:34 pm

    Thanks, Joe. I hope folks will share the blog with their contacts. Not sure if anyone will read. But at least one did. And yes, you win! We’ll keep searching.



  3. Jeb Airey on November 3, 2019 at 11:30 pm

    Loved it.



  4. Chris Kirkendall on November 6, 2019 at 10:57 pm

    I often become sad that as Christians we are quick to forget that sowing to the flesh reaps corruption. I long for the day when the news of the day does not prohibit us from setting the Lord’s table and receiving the communion Christ instituted as we remind ourselves this world is not our home.



  5. Supt Daryl Gilbert Sr on November 6, 2019 at 11:07 pm

    Enjoyed the reading. Great Job. Powerful beginning to a Better tomorrow



  6. Ryan Schaper on November 7, 2019 at 10:55 pm

    The old country song asks, “If they have so much to say, would they have to talk so loud?” I am constantly reminded that listening to others forces us to examine our own beliefs. We are always better for listening, whether it changes our beliefs or strengthens them.



  7. Walter Cooke on November 14, 2019 at 5:27 pm

    David, I have no problem with trying to understand those with whom we disagree. But it can be very risky to “understand”. For example, the current national climate of 24 hour news cycle, talk radio, Twitter, etc., is overwhelming with us with information about people and segments of society that most of us would have never otherwise come in contact with. All of this information is leading me to understand that I do not understand very much about the USA. I thought there was a general national understanding that honesty matters and that elected officials would put country over party when push came to shove. But I have come to understand that my former understanding was not correct. Not sure if I am better off understanding than I was living in the dark!