I was flipping channels last Sunday afternoon and stopped when I heard some music I thought was nice. I didn't note the channel I was watching or, for that matter, the name of the band. It sounded good and that was enough. Imagine my surprise when it found out it was a country group. When I was in school, country music was the one style I avoided. That changed a bit through the years as Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and others blurred the line between my kind of music and theirs, but as a general rule, I didn't go out of my way to listen.

Perhaps the sound  on Sunday was different. No one mentioned a pick-up truck that would not start or other standard clichés of the genre. The sound was mellow, thoughtful and had an interesting mix of folk and rock. Or, could it be, that I listened differently because I had not sorted the sound into the formed category of "I won't like that."

Likely it's the latter. I was able to listen to a new sound because I was ready to listen to it afresh. Instead of a settling into an opinion by fixed category, I heard what was being played. It was gentle, refreshing and opened my ears to new options.

We need to do the same when it comes to getting our news and reading opinions. It's very easy these days to listen and read only those with whom we agree. We tend to lock out even the opportunity to learn from someone with differing views. But we should at least listen to see if there is some kind of common sound, common thought, which we can share. Or, at least, try to understand why they hear what they hear. There's a chance we can make the world a bit more harmonious if we do.