Newsletter:Right Now! Coach

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LifeRhyme Notes
September 2001
By Rev. Rochelle Melander, Coach
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WELCOME!
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Welcome to the September issue of LifeRhyme Notes, a monthly e-mail newsletter designed to consider how we can integrate spirituality into our daily lives. Please check out the NEWS section at the end of the newsletter for information about speaking engagements and recent publications. I encourage you to forward LifeRhyme Notes to anyone who you think might enjoy it! Remind them that if they want to receive it on their own, they need to follow the subscription information at the bottom of this message.

ARRIVAL!
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We're filled with gratitude and joy! Eliana Maya Melander-Eppley arrived at 4:26 AM on August 31st. She weighed in at 9 pounds 2 ounces and measured 20 inches long! Her name is Hebrew, pronounced elle-ee-AH-nah and meaning God has answered.

IN THIS ISSUE...
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Spiritual Practices
Single Step Challenge (TM)
Brief Book Reviews
Quote for the Journey

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
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Normally I have plenty to say -- plenty to talk about, plenty to write about. Not now. Not this month. Just as it seems impossible to find adequate words for expressing the joy of welcoming baby Eliana to the world, I cannot find the appropriate words for discussing the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11th. As I listen to the words of others -- friends and journalists, poets and politicians -- I have heard a wide array of thoughts and feelings about the attack, its aftermath, and the future. Shock. Sadness. Deep grief. Anxiety. Fear. A call to act, to help, to understand, to love others. A reminder of life's precious, fleeting nature. A cue to connect more deeply with God and others.

In the midst of all that has happened, as I work to comprehend it and consider what it may mean for the future (for us and the next generation), I have found it absolutely necessary to take care of myself spiritually. It seems I am not alone. In the hours and days after the attack, people of all faiths gathered in public and in their places of worship to connect both to God and one another. I've read that the sales of books about spirituality are on the rise. I have heard many in the media speak for the first time about how they now cling to their spirituality.

With this in mind, I have compiled a list of some of the spiritual practices that are helpful to me right now. They are not profound -- but I am not sure that what is meaningful in life must necessarily be profound. Sometimes it is what is simple and available that touches us deeply. My hope, dear readers, is that something here will be helpful to you on your journey, as you struggle to make sense of the world and your own life.

1. Connect to others. As I watched television on September 11th, my first inclination was to gather my family together. Since then, it has been important for me to connect to others -- to talk, to laugh, to eat, to do stuff. It's been necessary to turn off the television, forget about e-mail, and have conversations -- with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and strangers.

2. Connect to God. I have heard about a movement around the world to get people to stop for ten minutes of prayer and meditation each day at noon EST. Pray for those you love, those who are victims, those who are enemies.

3. Keep rituals. The familiar can be enormously comforting. >From childhood prayers to the nightly story time, morning cups of coffee to family dinners -- any and all of our rituals bring spiritual comfort in times of crisis and change. This is a time to keep these rituals we hold dear -- and perhaps to return to the rituals that we have let go in the midst of our busy lives. We have gotten back in the habit of reading together every night, playing board games together, and baking cookies. They are very small, seemingly insignificant rituals -- and yet they connect us.

4. New tools. This has been a month in which I have needed and wanted some new tools for connecting with God and coping with stress. Though I have found the traditional rituals helpful, I have needed something tangible, something that does not depend on my words (or the words of others). For me it has been the labyrinth. The Fall 2001 issue of Spirituality and Health magazine has an article about the finger labyrinth, and their sample labyrinth has been a helpful companion to me. There are other tools that I have also found helpful. Meditation. Dance. Art. Music. Drumming. Walking. All are ways of connecting both with God and ourselves without using words.

5. Think globally. Part of being spiritual is seeking understanding. The global issues surrounding this attack are complex. It has been helpful to me to simply learn more. Public radio and public television have been good tools for me. On Friday the 28th, the public radio program "This American Life" presented a helpful hour of reflections, some from the survivors of terrorist attacks in other countries. (This should be available online at www.thislife.org. The show is entitled "Before and After.")

6. Act locally. We bring about change on our world with our small acts of kindness in our own neighborhoods. Just as massive acts of evil begin with small acts, great acts of good begin with our daily acts of kindness toward others. Acting locally can mean taking the time to talk to a neighbor, driving courteously, volunteering, or participating in interfaith discussion groups. Our tiny acts of kindness take root in the lives of others and bloom into more acts of love.

Whatever your practice -- and please feel free to share your spiritual practice with me -- take care of your spiritual self this month!

SINGLE STEP CHALLENGE (TM)
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Each day this month, at noon EST, spend ten minutes connecting to God in a way that is meaningful to you. Walk. Meditate. Pray.

Consider this -- how do these ten minutes affect the shape of your day?

BRIEF BOOK REVIEWS
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A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler. Follow Barnaby Gaitlin, treasured employee of Baltimore's Rent-A-Back, Inc. as he cares for his elderly clients, navigates his family, and falls in love.

Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Based on the bumper-sticker phrase "Think Globally, Act Locally," this novel centers around Trevor, a twelve-year-old boy who commits to changing the world through small acts of kindness. He decides to do three good deeds for others and then asks each to "pay it forward."

To Begin Again: The Journey Toward Comfort, Strength, and Faith in Difficult Times by Naomi Levy. Rabbi Naomi Levy encourages those who have experienced personal tragedy to find a way to go on and live their lives.

QUOTE FOR THE JOURNEY
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"...the most important knowledge we can ever have about God is first learned by many of us when we are children: [God loves us]. It is a lesson we learn and relearn throughout all the stages of our lives. It is a fact that brings us comfort, whether we are four and afraid of the shadows beneath our bed or eighty-four and afraid to walk in the valley of the shadow of death. It is a concept that the youngest child can grasp in an instant, yet even the wisest among us will need an eternity to understand."

from Melander and Eppley, "Dancing in the Aisle: Spiritual Lessons We've Learned from Children." (UCP/Pilgrim Press, 1999)

NEWS
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This month we celebrate the launching of the LifeRhyme Coaching Website! Please visit www.liferhymecoaching.com for all sorts of great treats and information! While you are there, stop in at the LifeRhyme Exchange to exchange your ideas about this month's newsletter with other subscribers! We welcome your comments and ideas!

Please visit www.the lutheran.org/0109/page26.html and read our article about children and spirituality, "Of Ants and Dandelions" from The Lutheran's September issue.

On Thursday October 4th at 7:00 PM at Barnes and Noble in the Mayfair Mall (Wauwatosa, WI), Rochelle Melander and Harold Eppley will present a workshop on "Writing for the Inspirational Non-Fiction Market." Come and learn how to impress that editor with your submission. We will also be discussing ways to generate article ideas. We hope that those of you in the Milwaukee area can come for a fun and free evening of learning!

A FREEBIE
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Frustrated with juggling work and the rest of your life?
+Needing help figuring out what you want from life or how to get there?
+Overwhelmed?
Newsletter recipients are welcome to a free coaching session, done by telephone, with Coach Rochelle Melander.
Groups and congregations in the Milwaukee area are welcome to a FREE speaking session.

Call 414-771-1408 or e-mail Rochelle at
rochelle@liferhymecoaching.com for more information.

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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LIFERHYME NOTES 2001 is written and produced by Rochelle Melander, personal and professional coach. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to: rochelle@liferhymecoaching.com. I would love to hear from you.

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