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.

Hidden Compassion

Every human being has a great, yet often unknown, gift to be compassionate, to become present to the other…If that gift would be set free…miracles could take place.   -Henri Nouwen

Nouwen_2    Why does Nouwen (left) need to remind us of our potential to offer compassion? Perhaps it is because we have spent too much of life holding back. Sometimes, people seem to hold back out of fear, as if worried that to offer compassion might be to expose one’s heart to harm. Yet I have never seen anyone hurt by offering compassion. And I have seen many people harmed by their refusal to offer it…

   This is not to say that offering compassion is without discomfort. It takes a little courage for us to engage with those who are suffering. How often have we avoided funerals not because we were worried about the family’s unease but because we were worried about our own. How often have we held back from being present to a friend in need because we felt awkward.
   Yet, Nouwen reminds us that it is our presence that counts, not what we say. "Those who can sit in silence with their fellowman not knowing what to say but knowing that they should be there,can bring new life to a dying heart."
   This meditation, like so many others that have appeared here, is written not so much because it includes a news bulletin. We already know we have gifts of compassion that remain hidden within us. Instead, it is to provide a gentle nudge to each of us to find that small crumb of courage needed to unlock the door of Love’s potential.
   As Nouwen says, "To care means first of all to empty our own cup and to allow the other to come close to us." How do we do this? It has something to do with letting go of ego and with engaging the spiritual practices of observing, listening, and engaging our gratitude.
   As we unwrap these gifts in our own lives, grace arrives. And grace is contagious.

-Erie Chapman

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4 responses to “Hidden Compassion”

  1. Karen York Avatar
    Karen York

    Compassion is often wrapped within the cocoon of self-interest. We get caught up with the day-to-day activities and forget to notice or care about the suffering in our neighborhoods. Also, we hear so much of the world’s tragedies, it seems too much to comprehend or to bear, so it doesn’t sink in. I hope today my compassion will come alive in ways I haven’t known before.

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  2. Tom Knowles-Bagwell Avatar
    Tom Knowles-Bagwell

    I remember being introduced to Henri Nouwen. A young woman I was dating lent me her copy of his “Reaching Out.” I began reading it because of my interest in her. I couldn’t stop reading it (and stayed up all night until I’d finished it) because of the depth and power of what he said there. Since that time I have read and reread many of Nouwen’s books. He has had a profound impact on my formation. By the way, I also married that young woman and we recently celebrated our 25th anniversary together.
    Also, I agree that it is our presence more than our words that touch the hearts of others. I was introduced to this two days after my eighteenth birthday when my older brother died in a work accident. I remember nothing that was said to me during the days and weeks following that loss. But I do remember that there were people there who loved me and the rest of my family. Feeling held in their love was what mattered during that time.

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  3. liz Wessel Avatar
    liz Wessel

    I appreciate your sincere intention Karen and Thank you for sharing in such a meaningful and personal way, Tom.
    At times, I hold back and Love remains hidden, nothing risked, nothing lost, nothing gained, Love’s gifts left unopened due to irrational fear and anxiety. Sometimes, I share a worried prayer with God, “Please help me know the right thing to say or do.”
    Yet, your gentle nudge Erie, is the best news ever! Oh, how my burdens lighten and ease as I realize it is really about opening my heart… So, I let the worries go and I show up with sincerity and a genuine heart for Love’s compassion to naturally unfold.

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  4. Diana Gallaher Avatar
    Diana Gallaher

    Thank you all for continuing to remind me that responding with compassion is not automatic at least some of the time, if not more for some of us. Instead it is something that must be cultivated. The little bit of Zen Buddhism study I’ve had taught me that you cannot uncouple compassion and wisdom.

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