General Discussion

Part of the secret must be respect even for people who are very different from us.

One of the anecdotes during Jimmy Carter's funeral service today at the National Cathedral was about his approach to his work with the Carter Center working to eradicate the guinea worm. His longtime friend and aide, Stu Eisenberg, noted that the process really was one of persuasion and that Jimmy's approach even in the smallest of villages involved his meeting and having conversations that were respectful. Probably from growing up in the small town of Plains (pop. 600), he knew from his personal experience that small town folk were just as interesting, genuine, caring [my interpretation of the anecdote] as any in the cities of the world. He treated people as partners, with respect, not pity. [Thanks wnylib for your notes from today's service!] The people he engaged with not only took on the work for their own village, they went out and worked with other villages and spread the knowledge and work involved in the eradication of the guinea worm organically.

I loved that. Part of the problems dividing us is a crisis of contempt, and it seems contagious. But if we could just be more like Jimmy, many problems would be able to begin finding solutions.