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.

Recent Posts

About

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.

What I Hear

What I hear,
sitting alone,
is conditioned air whirring,
a train moaning,
traffic stop-starting.

What I want to hear is
your voice telling tales

of children skipping through forests,
Arabs riding carpets over the points of stars,
genies granting triple wishes,
angels tripping over each other
to offer me, in secret, gold-wrapped
presents.

What I want to hear
is the voice of my childhood
laughing at my father’s jokes,
his eyes tearing, his great
arms tossing me beyond gravity
& my stomach.

What I want to hear is what
my ears cannot – you
convincing me that I am
loved,
even if I tell the truth.

What I hear
is conditioned
air whirring.

-Erie Chapman

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5 responses to “What I Hear”

  1. liz Wessel Avatar
    liz Wessel

    Yours is a lovely poem, one that stirs the heart and the soul.

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  2. Jan Keeling Avatar
    Jan Keeling

    Very moving poem. Thank you.

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  3. Karen York Avatar
    Karen York

    What we crave deep in our being is to love and be loved. Everyting we put on, our garments, our expressions, our possesions, our titles, are masquerades for our hungry hearts and thirsty souls. When I sit alone, I hear all of life around me, but what I want to hear is my own voice telling me I’m okay.

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  4. liz Wessel Avatar
    liz Wessel

    I was just thinking how this Journal has become like the gold wrapped presents of your poem. Each day there is a new surprise, a gift in the form of an insightful meditation, and like manna from heaven gifts continue to fall taking shape in readers’ comments. Sometimes we share our secret innermost feelings, lay bare our vulnerabilities, or reveal our naked truth. The angels sure are busy!

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  5. alisa shackelford Avatar
    alisa shackelford

    What a wonderful poem.
    Thank you for sharing,
    alisa shackelford

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