BLOGGING AT INTERFAITH LIFE COACHING

August 10, 2014

Well, I got your attention, didn’t I? I would imagine you have two questions: What is “INTERFAITH LIFE COACHING”? and “What is there to blog about?” Great questions and they are the reason I started this blog and Interfaith Life Coaching; which in reality is about much more than Life Coaching. Interfaith Life Coaching is your online resource for everything you need to learn and know about being in an interfaith relationship or having a family member who is in an interfaith relationship. This includes Life Coaching and a series of Presentations and Workshops that are available for congregations and organizations. If you go to my website, www.interfaithlifecoaching.com, you will find a vast array of information to get you started. I am available to assist individuals, couples—both those newly engaged and those who are already married, parents with children (young and not so young), grandparents, and extended family members through Life Coaching.

In addition to Interfaith Life Coaching, I have developed a series of Presentations that work really well in a congregational or organizational setting, on a variety of topics that are of interest to people in interfaith relationships like: How do we tell our parents? Why should our community care about interfaith relationships?  How do we choose between religions and is that really necessary? These are designed to be about an hour in length with time for questions and answers. Presentations are also geared toward involving the whole congregation in the conversation about interfaith families. Each one is an introduction to the topic since it isn’t possible to cover any of these subjects in an hour. It is possible, however, to begin thinking about how your congregation wants to engage in conversations, or how you as parents with young children, want to raise them.

The last piece I offer is a series of Workshops that are divided into two groups—one for families and communities and another for communities and congregations. These are on topics such as Building a Religious Home for Interfaith Families, Exploring Together (for couples), Embracing the Other Half of Your Community, Building Traditions, and Being a Grandparent. These are described in detail on my website, www.interfaithlifecoaching.com and can be booked through the website.

This blog will be the place that I will share ideas, thoughts and resources about all of the topics that appear on the website. The internet is a vast storehouse and wealth of information, but unless you know where to look for the particular information you need, it can be either useless or overwhelming. This will be the forum where I will be able to link you to various websites, books, videos, articles and music that might be of interest in your journey. It will be the home for a series of “How to Guides” to Jewish holidays for the non-Jewish spouse. If there is interest, I will happily offer “How to Guides” for other holidays, but my experience has been that most people know how to enter into Christian celebrations whereas the majority of non-Jews do not know the specifics of Jewish holidays. And, if there is the need, expansion into holy days of other traditions will be available.

So, as we approach the holidays on our various liturgical calendars, I will be writing blog posts to assist you in your preparations. This will include the history of the holiday, differences between beliefs and traditions associated with any given holiday, practical aspects of each day, some of the highlights associated with the day or days, and a list of resources including websites, books, music, etc., that you can use in your preparation.  In most of our traditions there is a distinction between holy days and holidays—sometimes the lines are blurred. For example, Christmas is really a holy day for Christians but has become secularized for many and is often considered simply a holiday; whereas Good Friday and Easter are still very much Holy Days. In Judaism, Chanukah is a holiday, while Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are Holy Days. In Islam, Ramadan is a Holy Month and each day is considered a Holy Day.

It is my hope that this will be a forum that will meet your needs and that you will become active participants by letting me know what you would like to learn about, what resources you need, and whether what I am providing is helpful or not. Between holidays, I will write about topics with which I have had a great deal of experience—living in an interfaith marriage and raising two sons who are now adults. This has been a very rewarding journey; it has not been the easiest path but it certainly was, at the time, the road less traveled. And, so I took the road less traveled and have never regretted my decision. There is no right way to do this, there is no wrong way—there is only your way and the way that works for you and your family. My role is to facilitate as you write your story and to offer my perspective when asked, to help you clarify your values regarding faith, family and tradition, and to assist you as you find balance in your interfaith family relationships.

I look forward to our journey together. Sometimes you may feel that a particular blog doesn’t really speak to your situation; in that case, please feel free to forward it to someone else. All I ask is that we remember that this is a place to be respectful of each tradition and religious expression. There will not be any attempts to sway or persuade readers to one position or another; neither will any negative posts about any movement or tradition be permitted. This is a sacred place where people can learn and grow together. Ken y’hi ratzon. May it be so.

Shalom,

Margaret