Journal of Sacred Work

Caregivers have superpowers! Radical Loving Care illuminates the divine truth that caregiving is not just a job. It is Sacred Work.

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Former President & CEO of multiple hospital systems and founding president & CEO of 20-hospital OhioHealth, best selling author, film artist, ordained minister, composer, published poet, syndicated T.V. host, trial attorney, federal prosecutor and Municipal Court Judge. Erie is internationally known as the founder of the Radical Loving Care(R)movement. He also heads Erie Chapman Foundation, Dane Dakota Productions, LLC, and Chapman Health International, Inc.

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Leisure

July 13, 2007

But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise
-William Blake

In a week that has no doubt been filled with many worries and cares for each of us, I offer to you a poem about leisure. These days, I don’t much like rhyming poems. But this one caught my fancy as I hope it will yours. Nothing deep, just a simple poem by British poet W.H. Davies. A poem that invites us to self-care.

What is this life if, full of care,
We have not time to stand and stare…

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hid their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have not time to stand and stare.

W.H. Davies (left, 1871-1940)

Posted in Meditations

5 responses to “Leisure”

Karen York

July 13, 2007

In a culture that does not honor “stillness” we rush from thing to thing while our mind races even faster…trying to keep ahead, or on most days, just trying to keep up. I’ll spend some time today among the flowers and stare at their beauty. In so doing I will nourish my own garden.

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Dane Dakota

July 13, 2007

I really enjoyed this poem. It got me to pause long enough to realize I have been rushing around way to much. Thank you

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liz Wessel

July 13, 2007

May we resist the forces that prevent us from stopping to stand and stare. As we enter into the sacred spaces of today, may we experience little moments of leisure and allow joy to kiss us awake.

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Tom Knowles-Bagwell

July 13, 2007

Thanks for sharing this, Erie. I have spent some time in leisure today. That has been difficult as a part of me demands that I be hard at work. Radical loving care of myself requires that I stop and stare sometimes.

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Diana Gallaher

July 13, 2007

This is wonderful. Thank you.

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