In his book The Ways of Peace: A Philosophy of Peace as Action, Gray Cox writes that peace is obscured in our culture, defined by what it is not - war - rather than by what it is. He says that prevailing assumptions place conflict at the center of human activity and that we must create alternative ways of conceptualizing our economic, legal and political systems. He defines peace as a "process of agreeing,” a definition that rejects the prevailing conflict-centered paradigm.

Gray's philosophies are exemplified in the Quaker process of "communal discernment” which assumes that truth and meaning are emergent and that including all community members in dialogue will enable a holistic understanding of the truth to emerge. Quaker process has five stages, the last of which is bearing witness. Much of Gray's own life has been spent bearing witness through social justice and peace work that is bound up with his own faith and spiritual practice.

Gray has served as an election observer for the Mexican NGO Acción Cívica, helping to legitimize a contentious election process in Oaxaca so that all the political parties involved felt empowered to participate. As an observer of the conflict in Nicaragua between the U.S. backed contras and the ruling Sandinistas, Gray worked with Witness for Peace, a faith-based NGO, to share his observations by giving talks at U.S. churches and lobbying Congress to stop funding the contras. In both of these instances, the opportunity to bear witness was also an opportunity to promote justice.

Similarly, volunteering with Jubilee Housing, a low-income housing organization in Washington, DC, gave Gray the opportunity to deepen his understanding of poverty. He says he learned how hard poor people work and that "the way the system is set up you have to do a great deal, be very well-organized and good at handling your resources. The perception is that people are poor because they don' know how to manage their money, but in fact people have to be creative and resourceful to make ends meet.” Gray also saw how diverse poverty can be - from the different experiences of a middle class immigrant family with middle class aspirations, to the experience of individuals living in poverty while struggling to overcome addiction - and how faith-based initiatives can help to address both the causes and effects of poverty.

Currently, Gray is pursuing the connections between faith, justice and peace through his involvement with the Quaker Institute for the Future, a Quaker think-tank on ecology and social policy. Gray's research focuses on Quaker epistemology, or ways of knowing. In addition, Gray is the director of the college's Yucatan Program, a three-month intensive educational program that trains students to conduct independent research and outreach in Latin America.

Gray is also involved with COA's Steering Committee, which oversees the All College Meeting (ACM) and ensures that issues make their way through the college's governance system. In many ways, the college's governance committees and ACM provide an opportunity for COA community members to learn and practice the skills of communal discernment. It could be said that participants are practicing peace in much the same way that Gray advocates in his book. In this way, Gray's work at COA enables him not only to practice peace but also to help others do the same.