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Thursday, February 13, 2025

Paul Graves

Paul Graves is a retired and re-focused United Methodist pastor and a long-time resident of Sandpoint, Idaho, where he formerly served on city council and mayor. His second career is in geriatric social work, and since 2005 he's been the Lead Geezer-in-Training of Elder Advocates, a consulting and teaching ministry on aging issues. Since 1992, Graves has been a volunteer chaplain for Bonner Community Hospice. His columns regularly appear in The Spokesman-Review's Faith and Values section, and he also writes the Dear Geezer column for the Bonner County Daily Bee and is the host of the bi-weekly Geezer Forum on aging issues in Sandpoint.

Jesus is Now Born! But Why?

God wants us to mature in our spiritual growth. That means we must let the baby Jesus grow up into the compassionate but revolutionary man the Gospels reveal him to be.

When “It Matters” Doesn’t Seem To Matter

I thought our inalienable rights were to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” not anger and fear.

Seriously, The Comics Can Be Healing

Now I see comics and cartoons as often healthy reminders that our world is not only a tragic place, but also a very funny place.

Vote: It’s about power, conscience and consequence

Your vote may or may not matter in the final vote tally, but it can always matter to your sense of power, conscience and consequence.

Is Retribution a Christian Value?

My sadness pushes me to explore where this spirit of retribution might find its foothold. Are retribution and retaliation Christian values? Absolutely not!

We can hurt God? Certainly.

I think we all hurt God in countless ways as we provoke divisions in our close relationships, spew caustic comments offered unthinkingly to a total stranger, be silent in the face of injustice.

Humility, Courage and Confronting Racism

When it comes to the hot and hostile topic of racism, how can I talk so another person will listen? Maybe more importantly, how can I listen so another person will talk?

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