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 219 – Spirituality vs. Religion

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"Soul…is the indefinable essence of a person’s spirit and being." – David Whyte

   As leader of an organization with a religious name, I am often asked about the engagement of religion in our work. I typically reply that, although the Baptist Healing Trust is grounded in the Christian tradition, our main premise, Love, is universal.
   Still, some are uncomfortable with the idea of engaging with an organization that carries a denominational name. They seem to fear that we will evangelize a particular faith perspective.
   This confusion of religion and spirituality pervades and sometimes poisons the American work place. Because our constitution separates church and state, we somehow conclude that this means we must also separate our spirituality from our work. David Whyte contends that too many of us leave our hearts out in the car when we come into work. He’s right.
   The disengagement of the soul converts us into robots. The engagement of our spirit enables us to live as complete beings as we encounter our work.
   The key question is not whether you work for a faith-focused organization. The crucial issue is whether your soul is truly engaged in your life. One way we gauge this is by asking whether a given individual thinks of their work as a calling or "just a job."
   How would you answer this question of "calling?" How do you engage your spirit without triggering issues of religion?

-Erie Chapman

p.s. Today is my 42nd wedding anniversary. I am grateful to my wife for staying with me all these decades.


Let the beauty we love, be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
– Rumi

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3 responses to “Day 219 – Spirituality vs. Religion”

  1. Yvonne Ginez-Gonzales Avatar
    Yvonne Ginez-Gonzales

    As a caregiver I don’t often think about the nursing care that I give to patient as being a job. I think of it as being invited, being privileged, being in the right place in the right time to be of service to someone who is in a unhealthy state and is in a vulnerable place at that time in their life that requires someone with my skills to assist in meeting their needs. This is very much a task-oriented statement, but it is also very much part of my responsibilities. However, as a caregiver I am very conscious about the holistic needs of my patients, too. So in answering Erie’s question about how I engage my spirit, I believe it first has to come with a sense of connection or “knowing ” with each patient that has come into my life for a reason that I am able to express my spirit through listening, gentle touch, sincerity, empathy, and a caring heart. These things cannot be seen but just like spirituality or religion they are simply unseen exchanges of love.
    There are many paths to enlightenment.
    Be sure to take the one with a heart.
    – Lao Tzu

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  2. Erie Chapman Avatar
    Erie Chapman

    Thanks for your comments and your wonderful quote from Lao Tzu, Yvonne.

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  3. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Congratulations and blessings to you and your loving wife, Erie, on your anniversary day!
    In response to your question, How do you engage your spirit without triggering issues of religion? I’d say this is actually something you do/teach, so well.
    Religion creates a community for people of like mind and heart to gather and pray. This inclusion of some invariably leads to exclusion of others whose beliefs differ. Yet, Love is limitless and imposes no boundaries so it provides a force that unites all hearts. When we distinguish ourselves, as somehow special, or as the “chosen ones” we risk separating ourselves from others. If we don’t recognize God in our brother/sister it becomes easy to label, judge, and to depersonalize with distancing to see only a stranger. When we hold so tightly to set beliefs we are in danger of losing touch with God, who we long to embrace.
    Love is a great equalizer for in God’s eyes we are all His children and if but one is lost and alone than so are we all. Love enables us to see past form and distinction to share in Her abundance.
    Work, relationships, home life, all blend into calling; a call to share Love through acceptance and forgiveness. I only need to be receptive and accepting in my response to this call to receive the gift of new sight and a release from fear.
    My daily prayer is to see with Love’s eyes and be healed so I might offer healing to others through Love.
    “Your daily life is your temple and your religion.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

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