Journal of Sacred Work

Today’s meditation was written by Cathy Self, Senior Vice President for the Baptist Healing Trust.

     This week a group of 16 leaders spent time together in circle. This was not the first time this group had met together, but this time something magical occurred. In the past the gathering has been about the doings, getting tasks accomplished, business decisions made, plans for the future begun. This time was meant solely for the being, and in that time some in the group came out of hiding, perhaps for the first time.

    Rachel Remen, a revered author and healer, has written about the sacredness of sharing our lives with each other. Her words echoed in my heart as I witnessed a holy moment unfold – one by one, hearts were bared as some who have spent most of their professional lives in hiding found the courage to come out into the light. Rachel Remen calls her story One Little Candle…

     "In a two-hour session…professionals have the opportunity to choose objects that represent the meaning of their own work to them, and use these objects to share this meaning with each other. Marie, a young nursing administrator from a large urban hospital took part in one of these sessions. As each person seated around the table placed the objects they had gathered, I noticed that she had kept something back and put it beneath her chair. As the instruction is to use all the symbols you bring to the table, I had wondered about this. One by one the group members spoke of the objects they had chosen and how each symbolized a part of what their work meant to them. We watched as Marie placed a slender white candle in a tall candlestick in the center of the table. It was unlit. Just showing it to us obviously had a deep emotional significance for her.

     I offered her a box of kitchen matches, and she sat holding it for a long time, unable to light the candle or even talk about it. Finally, she lit it, saying in a barely audible voice that it represented her real self. It was a touching and surprisingly intimate moment, especially powerful as the candle bore a striking resemblance to her own beauty, simplicity, and purity.

      One at a time, others also shared their work, and then the woman seated next to Marie at the table began to speak. She, too, had an unlit candle. It was short and fat. She told us that it represented her dream of being a professional and working with an open heart. As she spoke, instead of lighting her candle with the matches, she picked it up, reached across the low wooden boundary between her section of the table and Marie’s and lit it from the flame of Marie’s candle. Marie burst into tears.

     The woman, a sophisicated psychiatrist, began to apologize, saying that she had no idea why she had not used the matches and had not meant to invade Marie’s space. ‘Oh no,’ Marie told her, ‘it’s that there is so much cynicism and judgment among us that I never show anyone at work what really matters to me. Only my patients know. I am afraid that people will laugh or that they will think less of me and so I hide myself. For me, this work is holy. It is my calling. When you lit your candle from mine, I saw why it might be important to stop hiding. Perhaps I can find the courage to be who I really am. Perhaps there are others…like you…who are hiding, too.’ There was a moment of silence, and then these two women reached for each other’s hands."

     What I witnessed this week was a sacred encounter – first one, who with bold courage brought her heart and soul and laid it before her colleagues. And then, like timid newborn cubs emerging from a hidden den, one by one others in the group ventured out with vulnerability and trust. A great deal was at risk, but Love proved worthy and reliable and healing. Come out, come out, where ever you are. Others need your courage. Others are waiting to welcome you with open arms.