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4A | OCTOBER 28, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove Sentinel 1498 E. Main St., STE 104 Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424 damien Sherwood, editor | 541-942-3325 | dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Opinion The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern- ment for a redress of grievances. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) USPS#133880 Copyright 2021 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL Letters to the Editor Policy The Sentinel welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside The Sentinel readership area will only be published at the discretion of the editor. Political/Election Letters: Love on the other side of complexity Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. Letters must: 1) Not be a part of letter-writing campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Send letters to: (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub- missions on this and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) tal, social, economic, and political upheaval. All of which makes me wonder about another simplicity we might come to see differently as we travel from this side to the other side of complexity: Love. Or more specifically, the notion that “love is all we need” to solve our problems. I think many would agree that on this side of complexity such a notion comes across as naive, and can be easily dismissed as trite, vague and unrealistic. not talked about, that the simplici- ty on the other side of complexity is worth our life. Setting aside our own perspective for love can indeed feel like a surrender of selfhood. But it’s a loss soon restored when we real- “I would not give a fig for the sim- ize what we surrendered to was our plicity this side of complexity, but I own more expanded sense of self — would give my life for the simplicity the self that can see beyond its own on the other side of complexity.” filters, allowing the presence of love ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. to do its work. It’s worth noting that this is a par- In the early 1980s, while living ticularly ripe moment for a deeper in China, my wife and I got understanding of the pow- lost in an unfamiliar city. At er of love to emerge. The the time our Chinese language binding agents we’ve long By Kern Beare skills were non-existent, so we relied on as a society — our couldn’t ask for directions, let Founder of the Difficult Conversations Project norms, institutions and laws alone understand the answers. — appear no longer strong It was hot and humid, and after enough to hold us together. four hours of wandering we were But what if on the other side of All have, to some extent, lost our tired, hungry and dehydrated. Panic complexity it was becoming more consent, and so we find ourselves started to set in as we began to real- clear to us that love, like water, is an adrift, a boat without a rudder at ize we lacked the language skills to essential ingredient for life in gen- the mercy of whatever winds pre- meet even our most basic needs. eral, and civilizations in particular? vail. Something we’ve long taken for Finally we came upon a street The one and only universal force granted — our ability to govern our- vendor selling watermelons. After that can unite us in common pur- selves — now seems at risk. a quick and silent transaction, the pose and motivate us to act for the Binding people together, of watermelon was in our hands and common good? Would love then be- course, is love’s great gift. What we immediately devoured — the most come one of those simplicities we’d love, we care for and sacrifice for... delicious, rejuvenating watermelon all be sure made the journey across not because anyone told us to, but the planet had ever produced. Thir- complexity’s rough terrain? This because we want to, because it ful- ty-five years later, I can still taste it. seems to me to be the great opportu- fills something within us even as it To me, this story illustrates the nity of our time — to, in the midst of does good beyond us. meaning of the quote at the top of our upheaval, practice love and see What’s gotten in love’s way, how- this post. The complexity of our what new understanding emerges. ever, is our choice to limit its cir- circumstances turned an act I pre- Difficult conversations are, of cumference, to restrict it to family, viously wouldn’t have given much course, ideal for such a practice. friends and tribe. But what we may thought to — eating a watermelon The ability to set aside our opinions, discover about love on the other — into a profound encounter with a agendas and judgments so we can side of complexity is that love has no simple necessity of life I’d long taken actually hear the views of the other boundaries — making it the ideal for granted: Water. I’ve never looked side, is itself an act of love — one and perhaps only binding agent that at a watermelon the same way again. with the power to change hearts and can do the job. The only one that I bring this up because we clear- minds. can operate at scale, the only one ly live in very complex times — a Such an act of love also reveals the that, unlike hate or fear, does not confluence of extreme environmen- meaning of a part of the quote I’ve need an enemy to succeed. Guest Viewpoint dsherwood@cgsentinel.com HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS Oregon state representatives • Sen. Floyd Prozanski District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, Ore. 97440 Phone: 541-342-2447 Email : sen.floydprozanski@ state.or.us • Rep. Cedric Hayden Republican District 7 State Representative 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301 Phone: 503-986-1407 Email: rep.cedrichayden@ state.or.us • Rep. Peter DeFazio (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Oregon federal representatives Email: defazio.house.gov/ contact/email-peter Phone: 541-465-6732 • Sen. Ron Wyden 405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: wyden.senate.gov Phone: (541) 431-0229 • Sen. Jeff Merkley Email: merkley.senate.gov Phone: 541-465-6750 • Heather Buch Lane County Commissioner - District 5 Email: Heather.Buch@lane countyorg.gov 125 E. Eighth Ave. Eugene, OR 97401 Or call 541-682-4203 S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 Administration Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher Gary Manly, General Manager... 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