"The mark of a well-nourished self is the willingness to nourish others."--Ralph Blum

Dear Readers,

Autumn greetings to you all. Happy Hallowmas. Blessed Samhain. Raise the song of harvest home. I'm afraid this issue will be solely a November issue if I don't get it out by Halloween, which is two days away! Even Life Coaches get behind the eight ball! However, the next issue will be published in early December to coincide with the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6. I wonder if the dear, saintly Bishop of Myra will bring me bons-bons or coal this year (what I really need are some bon mots!)? And you?

metaphor 1: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them; 2: an object, activity, or idea treated as a metaphor--Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1973.

John Savant is arguably my favorite contemporary American essayist. Dr. Savant is emeritus professor of English at Dominican University in California. I've chosen a passage from an essay he authored last year for the periodical, "Commonweal" (November 18, 2005), for reflection this month because it concisely summarizes (in poetic prose) what my coaching practice is all about, who I am as a coach, and what I attempt to help my clients achieve. The text speaks for itself and is as follows:

"We live in a culture notably impatient with what cannot be managed. The culture of the business plan admires quick and tangible results, and does not easily tolerate what cannot produce them. From a pragmatist's point of view, poetry is almost without utility--an indulgence in fancy, a pretty musical packaging of idea and sentiment. A culture devoted to action and the practical will not value what Jacques Maritain calls an expression of the inexpressible. Nor will it give entry to what Coleridge described as the fundamental and truest shape of things--to experiences accessible primarily through the imagination and conveyed through aesthetic form.

If the pragmatist sets out to solve problems, the poet sets out to enter the mystery of the problematical. Yet the two dispositions need not be diametrically opposed (emphasis mine). Ideally, the citizen of practical imagination should likewise be a person of moral imagination; understanding how to get things done shouldn't preclude understanding what things ought to be done, consonant with our fullest humanity. Economists and other analysts seeking to understand human behavior must reach beyond statistical data, must be responsive to the role of the symbolic in ordinary life, as well as to our need for beauty and for social and political forms that enhance our sense of a shared familial dignity (emphasis mine). And, lastly, they must be responsive to the reality of religious mystery in human affairs.

Such insights are conveyed not through sociological manuals or economic analysis, but through the human imagination as expressed in the arts, in philosophical speculation, and in religious practice. In America, our very success at the practical and empirical has left us less sensitive to our own spiritual and imaginative needs. If we are the scientific and organizational leaders of the world family, we are also its cultural adolescents. Plenitude without elegance, glamor without depth, energy without form: adolescence shapes so much of American popular culture.

If the Dear Abby or Norman Vincent Peale seems, in the context of ultimate questions, almost irrelevant, it may be because their commentaries fall short of metaphor; or, to come at it from another angle, because they address problems that fall short of "mystery". Precisely because metaphor suggests meaning or sensibilities beyond quantification--beyond plain-speaking and common sense--it serves as a tool, however imperfect, with which we can open up the mysterious in human life and destiny."

It can be inferred, then, from the foregoing passage that an understanding of metaphor and its use in talking about the numinous is really all we have, but what a treasure chest. For example, one can only speak of "God" (substitute whatever word you use to describe that "Thing" that's bigger than you are) as one experiences "God", not as "God" is in "Godself". All we can tell is what "God" is like, not what "God" is.

The Jesus of "John's" gospel tells his readers that God is spirit and that the time will come when it no longer matters where you worship this God, but that you worship "God" in spirit and in truth. What does it mean to worship in the spirit? And to worship in truth? These two questions beg to be answered through metaphor.

The Latin word "pontifex" (from which we get "pontiff")means "bridge builder". As a Spiritual Life Coach, I help build bridges. And what is a bridge if not a kind of metaphor? It conducts traffic between seemingly disparate entities, traffic that is two-way. In this case, the entities are the sacred and the mundane. My clients and I learn how to navigate our ways between them by building bridges which allow one to flow into the other seamlessly until ultimately they're so fluid, one no longer needs the bridge. This is truly embodied spirituality.

There is an old Led Zeppelin song called "The Crunge", which ends with the refrain being played over and over. Finally, lead singer, Robert Plant, speaks over the music saying, "I can't find the bridge! Has anyone seen the bridge? I ain't seen the bridge! At which point, another voice, exasperatedly says, "Where's that confounded bridge?" End of song.

Let's reflect this month on how we build bridges through metaphor between ourselves and "God". What are some of the metaphors you individually use? How do they deepen your spiritual walk? How do they open your eyes to new ways of seeing things? How do they increase your understanding?

A friend of mine recently remarked, "How can you be a whole person and not be spiritual?" Plato couldn't have said it better. Peace be with you.

WEBSITE(S) OF INTEREST:

Spirit Journeys: http://www.getresponse.com/t/6938180/592477/171998562/

Spirit Works: http://www.getresponse.com/t/6938181/592477/171998562/

UPCOMING EVENTS:

It is with great excitement that I announce the formation of our first "Ongoing Spirit Community" in early January. The community will meet bi-weekly via telebridge line and is completely ecumenical. All are welcome.

I felt a keen sense of the necessity for such a group by observing the issue of techno-isolationism. Spirituality is of its very nature a personal and private thing, but the faith that moves mountains is found in community.

Each month we will be discussing a topic of relevance to practical living viewed through a spiritual lens. In other words, building communal bridges.

This community is geared toward those who aren't necessarily religious or "church goers", but are nonetheless spiritually curious or already walking a spiritual path perhaps in a solitary way (but if you are religious and/or a church goer, you're equally welcome <grin>).

The cost of membership in the community is $39.99/month, which can be billed on a recurring basis to your credit card. (You may cancel at anytime) In addition, every other month, I will be a available for a 20 minute "laser" call with each member to discuss anything that may be on his/her mind.

Watch my newsletters and the "My Services" page on my website for more details or simply send me an email or give a call if you want more information.

And don't forget the next free seminar on "Identifying and Overcoming Spiritual Obstacles" will take place in early January. Folks on my mailing list will automatically receive an invitation via email to attend all events.

RECOMMENDED READING:

(I'm giving everybody the month off since Savant's quotation is so meaty; I encourage each of you to mine it to its depths...)

Until early December, I wish each of you the peace that passes all understanding. Trust your intuition. Help someone in need. And keep asking those tough questions.

Warmly,

Gavin

Gavin W. Young, Jr., M.A., M.A.P.M., C.T.A.C.; Founder and CEO (Creative Executive Officer):

Whitehawk Spirit Coaching, LLC: http://www.whitehawkspiritcoaching.com