I hope you’re having a beautiful day. ♡
Here’s another light-filled ¤ Gem ¤
Photo, “Lowland, Denmark” by Hettie.
“They know all of our triggers and when and where to push them. They teach us how to forgive and how to overcome fear, anger, and frustration, and all of the other barriers that we’ve constructed to love. Our families often teach us the greatest lessons about love with both their presence and their absence, their kindness and their cruelty, and even when that love has to be offered from a distance.”
–Sherri Mitchell, Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change.
Teachers
PM Update
I didn’t get time to finish this last night so here is the rest. As promised, I’ll be writing about soul teachers from this week on, either here on under1000skies and/or linking to a post on my personal blog.
Sherri Mitchell
I’m so grateful to have read Sherri Mitchell’s book and will keep sharing her quotes too. It is one of those books. Do you know the kind I mean? The kind that you love so much you spend all your extra money buying copies for everyone you love. The last time I felt this way about a book was Dr. Cynthia Li’s Brave New Medicine (another recent teacher). So many teachers along the way. These new teachers since George Floyd’s death are showing me something I never had the courage or strength or perhaps ability to sit with and learn before, at least, not for long.
Coach George Raveling
Today’s teacher is Coach George Raveling. At the beginning of this interview, Coach Raveling starts with a prayer for George Floyd, for the Floyd family and for all of us.
I heard this podcast yesterday, June 9th during George Floyd’s funeral in Houston. The timing felt like an answer to an unspoken prayer of my own, and perhaps yours. How can we do better? How can I do better? Well, for one, we can join in prayer or, if you don’t pray, then, as Jim Beaver says, “Just hum along.”
I transcribed the first part of the interview to share Coach Raveling’s prayer especially. All mistakes are mine. Tim’s is one of my favorite podcasts, and this is probably among my top favorite of all so far. I plan to listen to the first interview with Coach Raveling from 2018 this week.
Thank you, Tim, for this interview, and for your show. Thank you, Coach Raveling, for your wisdom. Hearing your prayer brought me peace and focus for the future. I will do better.
Tim Ferris: This is a powerful and unusual episode featuring Coach George Raveling who made his first appearance on the podcast in 2018. Right now I’m looking at a tweet from a listener, Ryan M. who called it, “…his favorite podcast of all time.” That type of feedback came in again and again. For me personally, it was one of the most impactful interviews I’ve ever done, and I came out of it walking on air, effectively. Coach Raveling is really much more than a coach of sports. He is a coach of life and has led many people through difficult decisions, difficult periods, difficult transitions. We covered a lot of ground in that first interview including how Coach Raveling came to own the original copy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech; how his practice team ended up beating the 1984 US Olympic Dream Team in basketball; how he helped convince Michael Jordan to sign with Nike and much, much more. You can find it by going to tim.blog/georgeraveling. I strongly encourage you to listen to that conversation when you can about Coach’s life, philosophies, and lessons learned. I invited George back on the podcast to hear his thoughts on everything that is happening right now. These are obviously very difficult and uncertain times for millions of people, and my heart goes out to each and every person navigating the depths of sadness, anger, fear and many other emotions right now. As you’ll hear in today’s episode, Coach Raveling has great hope. He’s seen many changes in his lifetime, and we can all strive to be the positive change agents that he implores us to be. Before we get to today’s conversation, here is a very brief bio which barely scratches the surface. Coach George Raveling on Twitter @georgeraveling is an 82-year old living legend and Nike’s former Director of International Basketball. Coach Raveling was the first African-American Head Basketball Coach in the Pac-8, now Pac-12. On August 28, 1963, at age 26, while volunteering as security at the March on Washington, Raveling humbly became the guardian of what we now know as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Coach Raveling has held head-coaching positions at Washington State, the University of Iowa, and USC. Following a prolific basketball coaching career, he joined Nike at the request of Phil Knight where he played an integral role in signing a reluctant Michael Jordan. He’s also been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Please enjoy this timely and very timeless conversation with Coach George Raveling.
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Tim: Coach, I appreciate you taking time to record this followup to our conversation. It is June 7, 2020, following the death of George Floyd. A lot is happening. How or where would you like to start?
Coach George Raveling: I would like to start with a prayer.
Tim: Please do.
Coach: Dear Merciful God. We come before you on this day to request that you compassionately welcome George Floyd into your Heavenly Kingdom. Please restore his breath, his heartbeat. Heal his wounds. Allow him to live the life he was denied on Earth. God, shower some of your richest gifts on the Floyd family. Give them the strength during these challenging times. Dear God, answer George’s dying request for his mother. Please, please unite them one more time. And finally, dear Lord, we ask you to bring comfort and understanding to the multitude of families who have suffered the loss of their own loved ones during these times of social change. We make this request in Your name. Amen.
Amen.
Noon Eastern
Starting today and from now on, I’ll be restarting my noon healing prayers and meditations from 12 Noon on for ten minutes to hopefully up to an hour. Not always. It depends on the day but an hour is the goal. If you have any requests or want to join me for healing meditations, for prayers, to send good vibes, thoughts, or to “just hum along”, please send me a note on IG: TizzlovesRowdy or my Niki Flow Contact page.
Noon Eastern, daily, for healing every broken thing we are feeling, for healing from this grief, and for finding a way forward, together.
♥. Niki Flow
under1000skies 