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Columnist, educator, and consultant, Richard Griffin has wide experience as a writer and speaker. His articles have appeared in many publications - - New York Times, America, Commonweal - - to cite only a few. He has given talks on retirement and other aging issues in Vancouver, Des Moines, San Francisco, Florida, Oregon, as well as many places in Massachusetts.
As a member of the Jesuit order and a Roman Catholic priest for many years, Richard Griffin served as Catholic chaplain at Harvard University from 1968 to 1975, a period of unprecedented ferment in both church and university. Read more... |
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Selections from Recent Articles |
Church Women Under Fire Thursday, May 10 2012 I belong to a church which, in large part, depends on women for its vitality. Yet, strangely enough, this church continues to deny women the power to shape its teaching and practice. When growing... Read more...
FORGIVENESS Monday, April 16 2012 Michael Mack is a man of many credits as a writer and theatrical performer. Now age 55, he has also accomplished two things in the spiritual realm that rank as unique in my experience. First,... Read more...
Make Mine Manhattan Monday, April 16 2012 “Make Mine Manhattan.” This slogan, usually applied to my favorite mixed drink, also names the American city I most like to visit. Ever since early life, I have regarded New York City with... Read more...
ZBIG Thursday, March 01 2012 If you are like me, you value the wisdom of people who have lived long and have had important experience in world affairs. That explains my pleasure whenever I see Zbigniew Brzezinski, now 83,... Read more...
SIX WORDS Thursday, February 16 2012 For the last two weeks, I have been haunted by a sentence of six words. They were spoken unwittingly by a guide at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The person reporting these words,... Read more...
Languages Saturday, January 28 2012 How many languages are spoken by the world’s people? Try seven thousand. That’s an impressive number— at least until you discover that many are on the way out. In the next hundred years,... Read more...
MANTRA Monday, January 02 2012 To help give meaning to my later life I have created a mantra. This three-word phrase expresses spiritually a response to the events that mark my days. My brief formula for dealing with those... Read more...
GREAT FILM Monday, December 05 2011 One of the special pleasures of later life comes with encountering again the works of art you loved long ago. It is both agreeable and poignant to meet your earlier self through books, songs, and... Read more...
LAST WORDS Tuesday, November 29 2011 OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW. These were the last words spoken by Steve Jobs as he lay on his deathbed. We have this information thanks to his sister, Mona Simpson. She shared it in a memorial service... Read more...
Star Surgeon Hires Coach Wednesday, November 16 2011 What if a surgeon engaged a personal coach to watch him (or her) at work and afterward made suggestions for improvement? That’s what Atul Gawande has done. In case his name does not reverberate... Read more...
New Year Signs of Hope Monday, December 22 2008 As we enter upon either the last year of the 20th century or the next-to-last (depending on how you count), a new spirit is struggling to break forth among the world’s people. Billions of us are... Read more...
Visiting a Mosque Wednesday, April 23 2008 On the occasion of my first visit ever to a Mosque, two dominant impressions swept over me. First, the strength of the religious piety which I observed during the community prayer and in the talks... Read more...
Dreams and Spirit Sunday, December 09 2007 I was driving across a bridge over Narragansett Bay. The road led high up and gave me a view out over the water. Suddenly, however, and without warning, the roadway came to an end and I was... Read more...
Gay Wedding Friday, October 12 2007 Last Monday I attended the wedding of two gay friends. One of these men I have known for several years, the other only slightly. For both of them I feel affection and wish them happiness in their... Read more...
My Favorite Guru Monday, October 01 2007 “We are the beloved sons and daughters of God.” That was the constant message of my favorite guru, Henri Nouwen.He believed in God’s love for every person and spent his life communicating this... Read more...
Allyn Bradford’s Transformation Friday, August 03 2007 Allyn Bradford, while meditating during a 12-day "vision quest" for deeper spiritual insight, proceeded to talk to a tree. "The tree was quite surprised," he reports, "that I was saying anything to... Read more...
Christmas Birth Monday, December 04 2006 “It’s Christmas time,” writes an old friend in Kalamazoo. “I think of it as a spark of light at the darkest and coldest time of year, at least here where I live. I think of it as a very... Read more...
After Morning Prayers Thursday, November 30 2006 After taking part in morning prayers with a group of friends last Saturday, I talked with one of them over coffee and cake. Though I do not know this man - - a retired banker and current... Read more...
Awe Thursday, November 30 2006 If you are the parent of a college student the way I am, you have become familiar with a special vocabulary used by your daughters or sons and their friends. Even when you overhear only one end of... Read more...
Christmas, Circa 1935 Thursday, November 30 2006 The 1935 Christmas that we see in old magazines and films can seem merely a Norman Rockwell never-never-land, an idealistic presentation of a world that was, in fact, far from ideal. But even in... Read more...
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Written by Richard Griffin
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Monday, May 04 2009 16:35 |
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On the elevator at Symphony Hall: Jack: "I thought that was you." Me: "I thought that was you." Fellow passenger: "You were both right."
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My website is now active and online! Feel free to peruse my archive of past columns at your own leisure. They are organized by category and go back as far as the end of 1998. For my most recent thoughts and writings, take a look at my blog. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please send me a message. |
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