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.

Day 17 – The Passion of a King

MlkmugshotInjustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his Letter From a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

    We celebrate King’s life, formally, on the third Monday of January. He was actually born on January 15, 1929. His eloquent Letter From a Birmingham Jail was composed when he was only thirty-four. Five years latter, an assassin’s bullet would steal this man from us at the age of only thirty-nine. Before that awful April day, he lived a life of passion that illuminates our world to this day.
   Martin Luther King, Jr. was a penultimate example of a purposeful man driven by passion. His stunning commitment to living Love is evident to all who choose to examine his life and example. In an important way, we may see him as a leading caregiver…

   King cared for all of us in the way that saints always do. He was committed to the solitary purpose of advancing Love among humanity. Humanity calls for equality and fairness. These ideals were the hallmarks of King’s life.
King
   This reflection on King has been initiated in advance of this year’s holiday in the hope of encouraging all of you to read, or re-read, his eloquent and passionate "Letter." You may read it by clicking on this link: http://www.historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=40
   There you will find the words of an imprisoned man appealing to, of all folks, a group of fellow clerics. He called upon them to remember their commitment to Love. These clergy people, many of whom pastored segregated congregations, were concerned that King was rocking the boat. They didn’t appreciate the price of change. They thought King was being way to "uppity."
   How hard to face the crossfire of police repression, police dogs, and fire hoses. How much harder, still, was it for King to have to face the calumny of clergymen supposedly dedicate to Love.
   It took a sense of purpose, the full fire of passion, a complete realization of potential, a persistent commitment to hope, and the full presence of King’s being, for Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead the Civil Rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s.
   Most of all, King’s passionate commitment to high purpose called him to Live Love.
   What are your reflections on King’s life as we approach the day dedicated to his memory? In what ways do you see King as a caregiver? How has he affected your life?

-Erie Chapman

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4 responses to “Day 17 – The Passion of a King”

  1. Tom Knowles-Bagwell Avatar
    Tom Knowles-Bagwell

    Well, I was in elementry school and junior high school during the 1960’s. I can still remember the feeling of what it was like to live through the social revolution that Dr. King helped to lead. When I was in college and graduate school I read many of Dr. King’s books, letters and sermons. His thinking and his action have both had a profound impact on my life. And I can say that I am deeply grateful for that influence.

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  2. Diana Gallaher Avatar
    Diana Gallaher

    Yesterday afternoon I found out that our state is taking action that will likely result in yet more people losing their medicaid coverage, for many their only viable source of health care. Also, the state is asking the federal government for permission to cap private duty nursing services – if granted, it likely means that many people who are able to live at home will have to go to nursing homes in order to get life sustaining health care. A famous quote of Dr. King’s is “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” Obviously, the health care problem is a national problem, not just our state. In light of yesterday’s meditation, I truly believe that resisting injustice is love in action, even when it seems we just keep losing.

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  3. Diana Gallaher Avatar
    Diana Gallaher

    Dr. King’s vision of the “Beloved Community” remains very, very important to me.

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  4. liz Wessel Avatar
    liz Wessel

    I am sorry to learn of the cutbacks in TN Diana, it seems so short sighted to cut funding from home care.
    In New York City, during my elementary school days I recall that African-American children were bused in from the projects as part of desegregation and some of the white kids were bused to other neighborhood schools. I remember the moment vividly, 7th grade assembly, Mr. Young halted activities to announce the tragedy, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, and then we were released from school early.
    I greatly appreciate today’s meditation and the letter King wrote from jail. I found it awe inspiring and quite educational. What a learned man and great spiritual leader! Unlike Tom, I have not read any of Dr. King’s work but I am now motivated to do so. I understand the profound impact he has had on the lives of all Americans whether we realize it, or not. His letter expresses such poetic wisdom and the Love of a Christ heart for all mankind. He made so many remarkable statements that resonate, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” He advocated for, “the more excellent way of love for those willing to be the co-workers of God.” His closing line is quite a vision of brotherhood, “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”
    ~Amen

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