Conversations Journal » Emilie Griffin

In The House of My Invisible Lord

Emilie Griffin — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:15:15 +0000

It was a Friday in the spring—still cold weather in the Borough of Queens in New York City— when I drove up the long, winding drive to the Jesuit Retreat House on Long Island known as Inisfada. At the time the property was large and the situation of the retreat house commanding. It was [...]

Getting Unstuck

Emilie Griffin — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:55:00 +0000

Are there times in your spiritual life when you feel completely stuck? Although I write about spiritual life and spiritual practice, the spiritual life continues to be a bumpy ride for me. During the last month I’ve had a hard time talking to God, a hard time directing my thoughts to Jesus or the Holy [...]

Here & Now

Emilie Griffin — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:08:50 +0000

People keep asking me about “my” Advent book. My local women friends want me to bring copies to the next group meeting. I oblige, and I notice how heavy the books are. I lug them rather than bring them. Suddenly I find myself thinking that Advent/Christmas is rooted in the material, the here and now. [...]

Workin’ For The Lord: Contemplation, Social Justice and Art-making

Emilie Griffin — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:01:15 +0000

Kate Campbell is a spiritual writer who draws on deep Southern roots. Born in New Orleans in the 1960s, Campbell is a songwriter whose music illustrates the power of her Baptist upbringing. Her father was a pastor, and she still loves and reflects much of the beauty of her heritage. Yet she also writes in [...]

Audio Divina: A Song, A Prayer

Emilie Griffin — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:03:24 +0000

How does a song become a prayer? Perhaps not every song can lead us into prayer or deep reflection, but some do. One way this may happen is if we practice a kind of lectio divina when we listen. Lectio divina—it’s a Latin expression—means holy or sacred reading. It describes an ancient discipline in the [...]

Mobbed By Sparrows

Emilie Griffin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:18:04 +0000

I think that contemplation offers us a new, or deeper, way of seeing. I was attracted to this kind of prayer, first, when I was working in the hectic environment of a major New York advertising agency. It was rushed, competitive, time-driven. I kept feeling the pressure and wanting some kind of refuge, a way [...]

The Hidden Way

Emilie Griffin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:14:58 +0000

Elijah is a stirring figure. His name, which means “Yahweh is my God,” says much about his character. Some of us, like Eugene Peterson, were influenced by Elijah from childhood and youth. Others discovered him later. Either way, he has something vital to give to us.

Elijah teaches us about the undivided heart. He is all about being God’s person, God’s servant, completely obedient to him. This single-minded character is the governing quality of Elijah’s life, and it should be ours as well.

In his book The Jesus Way, one thing that drives Peterson’s discussion of Elijah has to do with worship. Worship, it seems, is one of the ways we may lose focus in our service to God. Distracted by pomp and circumstances, we fall in with false expectations of worship. We think large congregations are more impressive than small ones. We think renowned preachers are more important than simple ones. We plan our worship to impress others and to impress God. Most of all, we fall into ways of manipulating God. We judge the worth of our worship by what we “get from God” rather than how we give ourselves to God. Yes, this is a problem today, but it was also a problem in Elijah’s time. We want to take God captive, to put him in service to our needs and wants, when in fact it should be the other way around. We should be completely surrendered to God, completely attentive to him. That is Elijah’s message. That is the Elijah way.