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 155 – the Beloved Community

Mlking
The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

   King spoke of what he called "the beloved community" as far back as December 3, 1956, when the above quote was recorded. He was twenty-seven years old on that day more than fifty years ago. He repeated the language again in 1958, urging the creation of beloved communities throughout the world. And he continued to echo these thoughts in 1966 and right up until the time of his assassination in 1968 at the age of thirty-nine.
   He spoke his language of peace, non-violence and compassion in the face of hatred, anger and resentment. Like so many loving caregivers, he was spit at, shouted at, and ridiculed….

   Yet, our hearts smile when we hear his words – "beloved community." He suggests such a lovely picture, a place that everyone but psychopaths would love to occupy.
Circles
  We may shake our heads at the unreality of such a dream. However, in millions of small settings, King’s dream is achievable. We may not be able to convert the world, but you and I can help create such beloved communities in the environments where we work.
   How do we do this? I often ask myself why it’s so difficult to nurture circle groups. Perhaps it is because our work is configured around tasks instead of around love and compassion.
   Caring circles are designed to support not task work but to nurture compassion. King wrote that "something must happen so as to touch the hearts and souls of [people] that they will come together, not because the law says it, but because it is natural and right…our ultimate goal is…inter-group and inter-personal living."
   What is it that would touch you? What is it that would cause you to decide that you will initiate and sustain a caring circle where you work?

-Erie Chapman

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5 responses to “Day 155 – the Beloved Community”

  1. Edwin Loftin Avatar
    Edwin Loftin

    We must remove the cluter, remove the “to do” tasks.I agree that (as the saying goes) while we cannot change everything, we can change something. And that something must be the circle each of us are part of.
    An interesting trasnformation occured yesterday at our general orientation which reflects an infancy of caring circles. During the first several presentations there were 3-4 new carepartners who were not paying attention, slightly disruptive. But then in the early afternoon we played our Discovery film and then took the entire group to the “special place”. An empty patient room. As I reflected that this is where loving care happens, that the impact of the caregiver to caregiver relationship culminates here, that what happens to the individual in the bed is thier individual and collective opportunity and that the patient is themself, their mother, father, wife, husband I could see an awakening of all and especially those who had not been engaged.
    I hope that in this brief circle of caring we have laid the fertle seed for the next circle.

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  2. Erie Chapman Avatar
    Erie Chapman

    Great story, Edwin! It’s remarkable how so many people need to be place right in the middle of the environment of caring to begin to absorb the power of the message. Thanks so much for sharing this and I hope it will inspire others.

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  3. Karen York Avatar
    Karen York

    In almost every circle group that I’ve facilitated, someone will say, “I almost didn’t come today becuase I had so much to do. But I’m sooo glad I came.” The spirit that exists in those circles is hard to convey to those who have never come and may look at it as a waste of time or another task on their already busy day. Yet, my spirit is always uplifted by the connection with others in this special community.

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  4. Diana Gallaher Avatar
    Diana Gallaher

    There is so much wisdom in this meditation and comments. In our task oriented culture, a care circle just isn’t valued. It really is just the simple shift of understanding that nurturing compassion is of great value. Yet this undertanding is typically elusive in practice, I think.
    Karen, I was at the Alive Hospice residence today for the first time. I spent a short time visiting my sister-in-law’s mother. I experienced Alive Hospice to be a loving place. Thank you for cultivating compassion.

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  5. Karen York Avatar
    Karen York

    Diana,
    Thank you for your comment about our Residence and the fine people who provide care there. And thank you too for the honor of serving someone close to you.

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