Join Us For Coffee Talk

By Rebecca Ryskind Teti

Do you know about "Coffee Talk"?

It was one of the most popular features of the old Faith & Family Live blog, and when that site suffered demise, it found a new home here at Catholic Digest.

The premise is simple: everyone needs a group of diverse but like-minded friends with which it's safe to share good news, ask for prayers, inquire advice from more experienced folk, seek a reality check, commiserate -- or even get insanely excited over some money-or-time-saving tip. 

We do all of that at Coffee Talk, an online community where readers help readers.

Each day of the week is dedicated to a different topic. You can participate daily or focus on the issues most relevant to you. 

Wednesday: Natural Family PlanningFriday: Education (of any type -- public, parochial, charter, home -- it's all good where discussion is concerned)Weekends: Changing Roles -- a space to discuss the needs of the "sandwich generation" -- people who are managing the needs of kids in college, aging parents, and the beginnings of "change of life" are all fair game.

Within those broad categories, anything goes. Raise a question, tell a funny anecdote, share an interesting article, ask for advice or prayer.

There are some ground rules, though: Keep it clean, keep it kind, and keep it "kosher."

Which is to say foul language won't be tolerated, and neither will personal attacks on other commenters --and since this is a Catholic apostolate, neither will outright attacks on Catholic teaching (although respectful questioning or seeking after deeper understanding is fair game. It's scorn and mockery that'll get your remark deleted, not a polite inquiry.)

We all know that comment boxes often don't reflect human nature at its best. Let's keep it uplifting here -- a model of what Christian conversation can be, and a place where if a non-Catholic or a struggling Catholic were to stumble upon us, he or she wouldn't be turned off by the way we speak to one another. 

That means different perspectives and even disagreements are fine. There's not one right Catholic way of doing everything and we have so much to learn from each other.

At the same time, since written comments can easily be misunderstood, before you post a comment, imagine yourself saying it to a friend, in that friend's living room, over coffee. That's the spirit of Coffee Talk.

Over the years many readers have found the on-line community at Coffee Talk to be a godsend when they were feeling isolated or needed practical advice from experienced women in dealing with things like coping with Aspberger's Syndrome, dietary restrictions, NFP or marriage challenges and more.

Of course on-line talk can't substitute for actual medical or mental health intervention where it's called for -- but if what you need is someone to chat with over virtual coffee, won't you join us? 

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Finding Coffee Talk: Until some planned site changes take place, Coffee Talk can be a little tricky to find. Go to our home page, scroll down past the features and "Quiet Moment" and you'll see "recent blog posts" under the Recipe of the Month. 

There we are, a little hidden but there faithfully.  Or you can find the link to each day's discussion posted on our Facebook/Twitter pages each morning.

Rebecca Ryskind Teti

Rebecca Ryskind Teti is a wife and mom writing from Hyattsville, MD. She is web editor of CatholicDigest.com. Follow her "In Good Company" column at Catholic News Agency

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Category: business