Miles Chapman has grown to an age where he has begun to challenge reality. At age four, he has taken to advising his toy puppets that they are not real. When his Dad makes the puppet ask, "What do you mean?" my grandson responds by saying, "You are just pretend. My Daddy is making you talk."
Needless to say, this poses an interesting existential question. If the puppets are not real, why is Miles talking to them?
The great wish of Pinocchio, of course, was to be a real boy – to be human. Miles sees that he is human and puppets not. But, he’s still unclear about what the puppet is?
Children are constantly teaching us if we are listening. There have been days when I look in the mirror and hear myself saying to my image: Are you real?
There are many layers to such a question, aren’t there? There is the literal inquiry about my physical existence. There is a second meaning which tests whether I am presenting a truthful face to the world. And there are also questions about what it means to be real as a human being with a time-limited existence.
One of the fascinations for caregivers who are present to the dying is the notion of what happens in that split-second when life departs. It can be a sacred moment for anyone near. Or it can be an ordinary moment ignored as a mere transaction by a worker who’s doing a job rather than responding to a calling.
What does it mean for you to be real in your work as a caregiver?
-Erie Chapman
Journal of Sacred Work 
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