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Souls in Full Sail: A Christian Spirituality for the Later Years

Review

Souls in Full Sail: A Christian Spirituality for the Later Years

"We do not set out to become old…. This change has occurred, it seems, without preparation, without fair warning." So Emilie Griffin writes, taking us on a spiritual exploration of life's later years. In a book filled with rich story, spiritual exercises and wisdom, she explores relocation, vocational changes, losing her mother, negotiating relationships with grown children, and more.

Griffin never divulges her age in these pages. Let's guess that she has recently crossed over the biblical --- Psalm 90 --- "days of our lives" marker of three score years and 10. She is old enough to admit, "I can't romanticize the experience of tending the sick. Now I see that I am not ‘caring for the elderly' but becoming one of the elderly for whom others must care." Her mother, whom she took into her own home when living alone was no longer viable, has died. Her children are grown; one or more grandchildren have joined the family.

Griffin looks back and ahead with reflection and insightful wisdom that touches the spiritual aspects of an age of life in which goals change, surface-level priorities shift, hopes and fears intermingle.

"We live in hope that tomorrow's manna will fall, as promised." Her discussion includes many references to the life beyond the grave and the "Christian hope of heaven." As for the here and now, she's honest enough to say that "God isn't always dazzling. Sometimes he is merely friendly. In any event it is our assent that lets him respond to our need." Her God requires of her a willful trust as she heads into uncharted territory.

Griffin's writing is reminiscent of Henri Nouwen's; elements of his early style (spiritual insights presented without revelatory anecdotes) are interspersed with those of his later books in which he allows readers to see more of his personal vulnerabilities. As Griffin notes early on, this is not a memoir, but by the last page you have a sense of her Louisiana lineage --- the broad sweep of the family story that she is passing on to her children. She gives some attention to intergenerational concerns. She dares to hint at an age-old question: For how many generations does one display the large-framed, sober-faced patriarchal/matriarchal photos?

A particularly interesting chapter deals with evolving family rituals and releasing control of holidays. Yet the book is far from a self-help volume. It is, again, spiritual reflection that translates to insights that can be personalized by readers. Though she writes from a woman's perspective, it is by no means a woman's book.

Each of the 10 chapters ends with a suggested "spiritual exercise" or purposeful activity (for example, "Seek out old friends" and "Organize, if possible, a significant journey…"), followed by questions suitable for journal writing. I sense the book was written for a solitary reader, but I see its potential as the basis for a discussion group, possibly meeting in two sessions. 

Reviewed by Evelyn Bence on December 28, 2010

Souls in Full Sail: A Christian Spirituality for the Later Years
by Emilie Griffin