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.

A Lesson for Caregivers from Beowulf

"…we can never ultimately show to others exactly how we slew the monster."  – David Whyte   

Beowulf
   Beowulf, considered the oldest written story in the English language (albeit in the hard-to-comprehend Old English) has now been made into a movie complete with 3-D effects. There’s something amusing about the idea that our oldest adventure story would be retold fifteen centuries later via the latest technology.
   Though I haven’t seen the new version, I wonder how much of the essential story will stay with viewers after they leave the theater. Beowulf has lasted this long because of the numerous layers of meaning that live below the surface story line of a warrior hired to defeat the monster, Grendel, that threatens a town….

The_heart_aroused
   What I have taken from a summary of this story in David Whyte’s superb book, The Heart Aroused, is just one of this tale’s many lessons. After Beowulf defeats the monster, Grendel, everyone is celebrating. It is in the midst of this celebration that news comes of the arrival of a monster more dangerous than Grendel. It is Grendel’s mother!
   Is the first message that we should beware of celebrating, for a worse trouble may await us if we relax? I hope not. But sometimes this is true. Just as we think a patient is curried of one illness, another one comes along to threaten life. Just as we think we have reached the end of our shift, our replacement fails to show and we have to renew our energy for another eight or twelve hours.
   When we succeed against the various "monsters" that threaten us others may ask, "How did you do it?" When I’m asked this question, I find myself recounting the story and even offering to others theories of success they may use. But I always wonder: can we ever really tell anyone else how we succeeded?
   It seems that the best we can do is offer guidance and encouragement. Each of us must find answers within our own hearts – answers that we live out, moment by moment, as we encounter the challenges of our lives.
   In the end, success and failure are personal secrets for each of us. Perhaps that is why so many generations have thrilled to the story of Beowulf. For he is each of us.

-Erie Chapman

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3 responses to “A Lesson for Caregivers from Beowulf”

  1. Tom Knowles-Bagwell Avatar
    Tom Knowles-Bagwell

    For me, Erie, it is the internal monsters, rather than those in the world around me, that always pose the most formidable foes. That is certainly a part of the power of the Beowulf story for me. And what it says to me is that there is a depth to that struggle that goes beyond the initial surface appearance. Grendel does not appear out of nowhere.

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  2. liz Wessel Avatar
    liz Wessel

    I find today’s meditation quite interesting as I recall this remnant of a dream from last night. In my dream, I was with a small group of colleagues and the facilitator asked each of us to share a picture we drew and to explain its symbolism. I had a colorful mandala that I was prepared to share. When it was my turn to speak, I stood up and as I looked at my drawing, I noticed it was an entirely different picture. The large circle was completely blackened. On the top and in mid air was a super hero, Superman in his blue costume and red cape. Across from him an arch villain was lurking and within the circle some other strange characters. As I looked at the picture, seemingly for the first time I began to try to explain the forces of good and evil…
    Hmn…presently I am troubled by a conflict with a person in pain who lashed out and whose misperceptions twist light into darkness. My psyche seems to calling out to me in such a dramatic way. I love when I receive these kinds of messages that I believe are trying to help me.

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  3. Karen York Avatar
    Karen York

    I’m sure each of us has periods of our lives that we look back on and wonder “how we did it”. I am asked that question quite often when people realize that at one point I had a two-year old and new born twins. Three daughters in diapers and car seats and strollers and bathings and feedings,and laundry and, and, and… The answer that most often comes out is “ya just do”. My sister in law looks back at photos of her daughter who had leukemia at age 3. The swollen chubby face she now hardly recognizes and finds it hard to look at. In the moment of caring for her daughter, she didn’t see the puffiness – she saw her baby. Now she wonders how she did it. It is our love and our courage that kicks in when called to go beyond what seems humanly possible. When we cultivate the divine, that is who shows up when put to the test. After all, each of us is Beowulf and each of us is Grendel. Like your story of the wolf – it is the one we feed.

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