A few of us were sitting in a classroom at church, waiting for someone else to join us for an early morning prayer meeting. There was a lull in the conversation, and in the quietness of the moment, someone noticed how loud the clock on the wall was ticking. Then we all noticed that the time on the clock was incorrect. I remarked, “That’s just how a lot of people are when it comes to their politics—loud and wrong!”

We live in an age when public discourse is often loud, rude and uncivil. I think we would be much better off if we would speak less, listen more and try to understand one another better.

“Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.”—Proverbs 18:2.