I was concerned when Candance Gringrich came to speak at South Eugene High School. Bitterness, resentment, or hatred toward people they don't understand, such as gay people, is too great a price to pay for the simplicity of seeing only one view. The process of A New Community Meeting was a road to peace inside me. All of us who participated struggled to find some real bridges of understanding, and we did find some real common ground and learned to care for each other. Now we are looking for ways to give others the opportunities to experience what we did around the issue of gay rights or any other.
Reconciliation comes out of love.
In A New Community Meeting we all had a chance to learn to respect and appreciate and love and even like one another. This makes it possible for us to work together to look for solutions to this issue and other issues that will benefit the entire community. That kind of relationship and problem solving can build a safe and healthy community for everyone. Some of us have to be willing to take risks. Biography Bob Keefer is a journalist with The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon.