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"The COVID-19 is testing more than our bodies. Our spirits are getting a great test too," writes the Rev. Paul Graves. He argues that despite our separation and individualistic tendencies, we are our best, most authentic, selves when we help each other.

The Rev. Paul Graves believes that gratitude is a gift we are born with. In his latest post, he shares a personal example of this truth and a call to nurture and care for the gift as we find it in our children and grandchildren.

The Rev. Paul Graves has an occasional practice of sharing a letter to his three grandchildren in his column for The Spokesman Review. In his most recent, he explores confrontation as a practical and spiritual matter.

A recent excursion had the Rev. Paul Graves mesmerized by the amazing rock formations of the Canadian Rockies. It got him thinking about creation, religious affirmations toward its preservation, and our calling to be active partners with it.

"From benign bicyclists ignoring stop signs to increasingly toxic shoving matches to the horrors of mass shootings, zero-sum games are played every day." For the Rev. Paul Graves, the pervasive winner-takes-all mentality this engenders stands in contrast to the ministry and teachings of Jesus.

The process of downsizing has not been easy one for the Rev. Paul Graves as his family moves to a new, smaller home. In his post, Graves considers the value of accumulated "stuff" and the relationship between grief and gratitude.

"As I watched immigrant children sitting silent in cages on our southern borders, I could only imagine what grief and fear their silence betrayed," writes the Rev. Paul Graves in a letter to his grandkids. In his message Graves considers the power of sacred silence, both in times where it is a reprieve to a noisy world and in moments where it is an alternative to a silence born in fear.

"I don’t want to hate anybody, especially the political leaders I vehemently disagree with," writes the Rev. Paul Graves. Reflecting on a cultural climate "where it's hard not to hate," Graves suggests that our faith offers us a better path than hate or despair if we risk opening our hearts to the world around us.

The Rev. Paul Graves uses the metaphor of chiropractic alignment to discuss the problems we are experiencing as a denomination today, and at times in our own struggles as well. He states, "alignment has everything to do with relationships we have – with our bodies, emotions, the people we live with and around, the God we perceive, and the Bible we read."

By Rev. Paul Graves For his regular column in the Spokesman-Review, Rev. Paul Graves will occasionally use the format of a letter to his grandchildren....