Coaching Quarterly 2022/No. 2

Daring to get into the Game!

On a personal note...

Something that I have loved, over the years in my work as a coach, a professor, a mentor, and a woman of God in service to others, is being able to listen deeply at the heart level and provide a safe place for the stories to be told. The stories I've heard over the years are rich beyond words. 

One of my teachers/mentors, Leon Vanderpol, said it so clearly: 

“Attuning to what is happening at the core of your client's being influences how you listen to the surface level information: you become adept at noticing what is being said that could be a doorway to a deeper exploration. When you listen deeply for the song of the soul, you will notice this universal pattern:  it is calling for a healing experience.”

It is such a privilege to be a coach, to know that "the song of the soul" is in each one of us. With careful listening, we get to help each other discover that song.

 

ARTICLE

I offer you an article I wrote a few years ago that seems very current in light of recent events. I am still asking the same questions and asking that we stand together....

Will The Real America Please Stand Up! 

The images, sounds, and stories across this country, since September 11th, have challenged me to think deeply about our country and what it means to be an “American”. I’ve seen flags everywhere and signs that say “God Bless America” and “United We Stand”. What keeps coming to mind, however, is “are we really united and are we really standing?” 

It is, of course, difficult to generalize about all Americans since we are so diverse. The questions, however, still ring as loud as the church bells that tolled for those who died on September 11th. What does it mean to stand as a united group of citizens of the United States of America? Who are we as Americans? What are we united about? Are we really standing together across this country, in every town and city, neighborhood and community? 

For me, the image that is always very powerful is that of all of the faith groups coming together for a unified memorial service in our National Cathedral. As each offer prayers to God in their particular language and tradition, they speak in a unified voice to one God—about love and strength—about compassion and mercy—about hope and unity—about truth and reality—about standing united against the common enemies of hatred, destruction, poverty, hunger, and murder.  

The songs that have been sung around the country, our historic and "patriotic" songs to help is remember, are about the goodness that has deep roots in this country with the words:  “… America, America, God shed his grace on Thee and crown thy good with brotherhood ….”; “My country ‘tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty ….”; “… God bless America, my home, sweet home.” 

It seems that if the real citizens of the United States of America, the loving and honest ones, would stand united, we might be on the road to building a country of “brotherhood and sisterhood”, that is a “land of liberty” for all and a place to call “home, a sweet home”. Unfortunately, there are many across this land that have forgotten their immigrant roots and think that America means:  individualism, classism, greed, and prejudice. Even more unfortunate and destructive is the realization that 90% of us, the good and kind people of this country, have forgotten how to stand against such. 

If there are going to be the real pivotal point for change across this country, we must come to terms with what divides us. The next few months and years must open the doors for honest, open dialogue about how we separate ourselves. Real Americans will be shaken by the destruction and murder that has taken place and will say, “Enough!” 

  • When the bully at school bothers their kid they will say, “No more!” 
  • When the drug dealers come into their neighborhoods they will say, “Not here anymore!” 
  • When the domestic terrorists in this country spread hatred, racism, prejudice, and isolationism, they will say, “Not in America!” 
  • When they see another American citizen in need they will say, “How can I help?” 
  • When they meet a visitor to our “land of liberty” they will say, “Welcome!” 

Will The Real America Please Stand Up! 

 

COOL RESOURCE

 The "On Being Project" is hosted by Krista Tippett as a weekly radio show and postcast offered on National Public Radio. The Project is described as a "radio show and podcast was created by inside a legacy media organization (American Public Media) in 2003. It began with a controversial idea for a public radio conversation (Speaking of Faith) that would treat the religious and spiritual aspects of life as seriously as we treat politics and economics. On Being, as it has evolved, takes up the great questions of meaning in 21st-century lives and at the intersection of spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, and the arts. What does it mean to be human, how do we want to live, and who will we be to each other?"

The month of June provided a wealth of amazing authors, spiritualists, teachers, and poets to glean from. The program that caught my attention was the interview that Krista did with Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen. She’s a medical doctor, a storyteller, an author of acclaimed books, and a container of the most extraordinary insights about healing, the body, health, our tender connections with each other, and community. Krista tells us that...

Rachel grew up in a family of doctors and nurses, with a grandfather who told her stories. In fact, he gave her a story — the legendary story about the birthday of the world — as a gift for her fourth birthday. This story, about the need to be involved in healing the shattered world, has been a touchstone for her life. Trained as a medical doctor, she found herself considering the distinctions between curing and healing. What we might now consider to be everyday tools of medical care — listening, engaging, taking a whole-person approach to the questions of health — were not so in her training, and indeed, in the training of many.

Rachel’s vision of wholeness does not mean perfection. In fact, she speaks of perfection as “the booby prize in life … it’s very isolating, very separating, and it’s also impossible to achieve.” She’s lived with Crohn’s Disease for most of her life, and throughout many major surgeries, she has taken the approach to say, “Without my suffering, I wouldn’t understand the suffering of others or be able to connect to them. My loneliness enables me to recognize the loneliness in other people, even when it’s covered over; to find them where they have become lost in the dark, and sit with them; and to know that just by sitting with them, eventually they will find what they need in order to move forward.”

I hope you have time this summer to listen to "On Being" and to the interview with Dr. Remen. In September, 2022, she will publish her first book for children: The Birthday of the World: A Story about Finding Light in Everyone and Everything.

https://onbeing.org/series/podcast/

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

COMMUNITY INTELLIGENCE - IT'S NOT ARTIFICIAL

On the 4th Thursday of each month, at 8:00 am, Pacific Standard Time, I offer a free Zoom event that can be accessed through Zoom or on my Facebook page. Please join our growing community of people who want to bring the best to their families and neighborhoods by solving issues and problems together - a collective mind/intelligence.

Next meeting is July 28, 2022

The Zoom Meeting ID is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84073537075

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