Dear brothers, don’t ever forget that it is best to listen much, speak little, and not become angry… – James 1:19

Over more than four decades of ministry, Rebekah and I have consistently enjoyed positive experiences with the congregations and communities where she has served. Pensacola, Brandon, Wake Forest and now Tarboro have all been markedly different – but what they have had in common is, always, teaching us.

Sure, the people were – and are – open to learning and growing, but the salient point for this discussion is that so are we.

This is an important idea to talk about because we live in a time when so many seem determined to set others straight rather than examine themselves, to lecture everyone else at the expense of listening, to demonstrate how right they are when – instead – they could be learning, to dispense answers instead of asking better questions and to present themselves as experts as opposed to valuing the ideas and perspectives of those around them.

To that end I try to chat with and listen to as many people as possible – especially from the church. My primary goal is to open the door to friendship, to offer my support, to learn who they are and to understand more about the community where we live.

No agenda, just an open heart.

This week:

So Wednesday morning a good conversation at a reception the evening before turned into a meeting at the Tarboro Coffee Company and, in consequence, a unique look at this community.

“Would you like to take a look at the family farm?” Tate offered.

“Absolutely!” I replied.

So we hopped into his truck and I got to see this beautiful part of North Carolina through the eyes of someone whose family has farmed here for generations.

It’s one thing to form opinions on herbicides or organics or regulations or bees or subsidies or crop insurance or the price of cotton or GMO’s or taxes or infrastructure – then it’s another to visit a working farm and actually learn something. To see the vastly complex set of challenges and decisions and details and science and sheer hard work and investing and prayers for good weather and so much more that is involved in bringing a crop of anything to harvest.

So I listened to the stories, and I was deeply impressed with Tate’s knowledge and commitment and problem-solving savvy and irrepressible hard work. And I thought about how easy (and common) it is for people to peremptorily judge or dismiss points of view when we typically do not begin to know the layers of experience and history and family tradition and a thousand other variables that go into their thinking.

Tate yanked up a soybean plant and showed me everything from tiny nodules on the fibrous part of the root system that store and release nitrogen, to the maturity of the beans in the pods, to the threat of the army worm and the grasshopper to invasive weeds that can be so opportunistic, to the calculations at play when considering the best time to intervene – or not – between now and harvest.

When we listen, we learn:

This is a long post, I know, but the point I’m getting to is, I believe, critically important. We all have so much to learn! And anytime we are tempted to patronize or dismiss people in response to their stand on anything we would make much better use of our time to open our minds and listen. Or at least – and more importantly – to learn who other people are so that we can understand.

So thanks, Mr. Mayor, for sharing. Thanks for showing me your Tarboro.

I will save the cotton story (from fields to factory to Mayo Mills and then the socks on my feet) for another time.

Another day, another step farther, and deeper, into this community and its remarkably good people – DEREK