People need to communicate with each other. How ready are we to hear what’s being said?
For many people, snowdrops or crocuses popping their heads above the ground is the signal that spring is just around the corner. For others, it’s the slightly lighter evenings. For me, it’s seeing the roller at our local cricket club.
My favourite walk passes the cricket ground, and the first sighting of the groundsman trundling the weighted cylinder up and down the square always reassures me that warmer days are just around the corner. As the weeks go by, the size and weight of the roller increase, flattening and compacting the surface to create a firm and flat wicket.
Beyond the cricket field lies arable farmland. As I walked across from one to the other earlier this week, I was struck by the difference in the condition and treatment of these two fields. The cricket filed is rolled to ensure that what gets dropped on it, specifically a cricket ball, bounces off. The farmer’s field is ploughed, to ensure that what gets dropped on it, seed, is absorbed.
The contrast between how these two fields are prepared got me thinking. How do we approach the world? Do we treat other people, especially those who hold different views, opinions and beliefs to us, like a cricket ball or like a seed? If we see them as a cricket ball, we’re likely to take the groundsman’s approach cultivating a hard, impenetrable mindset so that anything that gets thrown at us can be rejected as quickly as possible. Treat them as a seed, however, and we’re likely to take the farmer’s approach, turning things over and adopting a more open mind, being curious and courageous enough to take in what is being offered.
Both approaches have their merits. Being clear about our beliefs and values, developing resilience and not being damaged by extremist views, unfair criticism or harmful abuse, are important skills. On the other hand, being able to understand other perspectives, empathise with others and engage in debate and discussion is crucial in allowing understanding to grow, communities to flourish and minds to change.
Take one look at our societies, however, and you’ll soon see that the world is tending to do a lot more rolling than ploughing. Bi-partisan politics, the echo chamber of social media and the constant demand that we take one side or the other in every debate, characterise different people, views and beliefs as cricket balls to deflect, rather than seeds to absorb. Listening, understanding and patience are in increasingly short supply. Maybe it’s time for us all to do more ploughing?
Main Photo Credit: Alessandro Bogliari via Unsplash
Comment: Roller or plough?
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People need to communicate with each other. How ready are we to hear what’s being said?
For many people, snowdrops or crocuses popping their heads above the ground is the signal that spring is just around the corner. For others, it’s the slightly lighter evenings. For me, it’s seeing the roller at our local cricket club.
My favourite walk passes the cricket ground, and the first sighting of the groundsman trundling the weighted cylinder up and down the square always reassures me that warmer days are just around the corner. As the weeks go by, the size and weight of the roller increase, flattening and compacting the surface to create a firm and flat wicket.
Beyond the cricket field lies arable farmland. As I walked across from one to the other earlier this week, I was struck by the difference in the condition and treatment of these two fields. The cricket filed is rolled to ensure that what gets dropped on it, specifically a cricket ball, bounces off. The farmer’s field is ploughed, to ensure that what gets dropped on it, seed, is absorbed.
The contrast between how these two fields are prepared got me thinking. How do we approach the world? Do we treat other people, especially those who hold different views, opinions and beliefs to us, like a cricket ball or like a seed? If we see them as a cricket ball, we’re likely to take the groundsman’s approach cultivating a hard, impenetrable mindset so that anything that gets thrown at us can be rejected as quickly as possible. Treat them as a seed, however, and we’re likely to take the farmer’s approach, turning things over and adopting a more open mind, being curious and courageous enough to take in what is being offered.
Both approaches have their merits. Being clear about our beliefs and values, developing resilience and not being damaged by extremist views, unfair criticism or harmful abuse, are important skills. On the other hand, being able to understand other perspectives, empathise with others and engage in debate and discussion is crucial in allowing understanding to grow, communities to flourish and minds to change.
Take one look at our societies, however, and you’ll soon see that the world is tending to do a lot more rolling than ploughing. Bi-partisan politics, the echo chamber of social media and the constant demand that we take one side or the other in every debate, characterise different people, views and beliefs as cricket balls to deflect, rather than seeds to absorb. Listening, understanding and patience are in increasingly short supply. Maybe it’s time for us all to do more ploughing?
Main Photo Credit: Alessandro Bogliari via Unsplash
Martin Carter
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