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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Day 8 – Preparing Ourselves for Change

January 8, 2008

"Usually people will tolerate a brief dabbling in the ‘inward journey,’ but then it is time to get on with the
real business in the real world." – Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline

Foster’s statement is so accurate it’s painful. Most of us just "dabble" in the inward journey. We travel a few inches into the difficult territory of the soul, then turn and retreat to the "real" world when the going gets tough. Perhaps this is the reason we’re so attracted to surface transactions. External transactions are an easy alternative to more meaningful inner work.
The inward journey of spiritual discovery is far more challenging than the external climbing of Mt. Everest….

That is why I admire those of you who are strong enough to stick with inward travel in spite of the painful traps and fiery dragons that live at every turn. Every saint, or saint-like Lover, has suffered in these traps and battled these dragons. It wasn’t because they sought sainthood. It was because they believed in the power of Love.
Love is the reward for persevering.
How do we prepare for this journey? We must equip ourselves with a sense of purpose that is so deep and riveting that its energy will sustain us in our darkest hours.
It’s helpful to have a plan. But no plan can survive the rigors of the true journey. The only successful plans are those that have the flexibility of willow trees – the ability to bend with the wind and not break.
Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline, is a terrific guide for the inward journey. But none of it will matter for us unless we have made the personal commitment to live Love. Even this goal, live Love, will not be enough to sustain us unless we can make sense of this goal in our lives and feel the importance of Love’s power.
Prepare for the arrival of Love in your life. Open your heart. Know that Love is the only goal worth your Life’s sacrifice. And know that Love lives beneath every step of your personal journey.

-Erie Chapman

Posted in Meditations

6 responses to “Day 8 – Preparing Ourselves for Change”

Tom Knowles-Bagwell

January 8, 2008

Your thoughts for this morning are so true, Erie. I find myself nodding at every sentence. I’m also reminded of the advise of the “desert fathers” that no one embark upon this journey alone. It must be taken in the company of fellow sojourners, else our sanity be lost along the way. I have said that to myself over and over again through the years because I am steeped in the radical individualism of my culture. So, I need to be reminded. I think it’s like the old saying from AA, “No one can do it for you, but no one can do it alone.” I’m grateful for others to journey with.

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Karen York

January 8, 2008

It’s scary in there – in the darkness of my soul. I’m afraid to open where no one else can go. What will I find behind the doors padlocked so many years ago? What if there is nothing, nothing,
Nothing?

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Erie Chapman

January 8, 2008

Karen,
I think it is more likely that when you open the door, instead of nothing, you will find everything.

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liz Wessel

January 8, 2008

Karen, I wonder… if you found nothing within, could you sit with it,… be with it,… accept it,… learn to Love that emptiness,…that nothingness within? Perhaps, it is in that nothingness that Love’s voice will breaks through to you? I believe the radiance of your Love will shine to meet you. I was thinking how much I missed your presence while you were on vacation. Your contributions to this Journal truly enrich my experience. I don’t know if it is helpful but I keep you close in heart today. ~liz
I can feel your passion in this meditation Erie, and your message is energizing and hopeful. What continues to resonate for me from yesterday’s meditation is the word relationship. When our hearts touch, it is pure joy.
Margaret J. Wheatley says it well, “Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals who can go it alone.”
I am reading an insightful book called, “The Power of Now.” In it author, Eckhart Tolle asserts that “Being” is of primary importance with compassion possibly manifesting on the level of “doing” to relieve another’s suffering when encountered. To illustrate, Tolle states, “When a hungry person asks you for bread and you have some, you will give it. But as you give the bread, even though your interaction may only be very brief, what really matters is this moment of shared Being, of which the bread is only a symbol. A deep healing takes place within it. In that moment there is no giver, no receiver.”
Tolle proclaims, “Without a profound change in human consciousness, the world’s suffering is a bottomless pit.” I believe we can only change the world through changing ourselves. That is why I am deeply committed to the inward journey and to be ever faithful to stay the path of awakening, which to me is the way of Love.

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Diana Gallaher

January 8, 2008

“When a hungry person asks you for bread and you have some, you will give it. But as you give the bread, even though your interaction may only be very brief, what really matters is this moment of shared Being, of which the bread is only a symbol. A deep healing takes place within it. In that moment there is no giver, no receiver.”
This is an understanding about relationships/healing/giving/receiving that I have not seen articulated (or at least do not recall if I have). The beauty of it takes my breath away….

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Sherri Mills

January 8, 2008

Preparing Ourselves for Change happens whether we want it to or not because we are energy beings that are continually changing and evolving. Change involves fear as well as tremendous courage to face who we are and who we want to be. When we make the decision to allow our hearts to remain open, caring and loving unconditionally it can be some of the hardest work we do because we have learned to be attached to the outcome. Maintaining Loving Intent in our thoughts and actions without being attached to the outcome is one of our biggest gifts.

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