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.

Days 283-286 – Love’s ROI

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

"Love never fails…" 1 Corinthians 13:8a

  Old_hands_jpg-3   Today's market has people like even me looking at return on investments (ROI). What have I   gained from the investments I have made? Sadly, in recent days, my return has quickly been diminished. Our world suggests that only when our ROI is positive should we continue to make investments. The harder truth is that we seem to have let that principle guide us even in those aspects of our lives that cannot be so easily measured.

     A healer working with patients living with chronic pain once suggested that Love asks us to invest even when a positive ROI seems unlikely. In response to a patient's desperate desire for peace of mind, this healer said "you will find peace of mind when you are able to love with all the love you have to give, without judgment or evaluation and without expecting anything in return" (Jampolsky: Teach only Love). Her words still startle me, especially as I reflect on relationships in my life. How many times have I extended words of appreciation, hoping secretly to hear them returned to me as affirmations of my own worth or goodness? When the carefully chosen and beautifully wrapped gift is finally unveiled, does my heart burst with Love or does it crave recognition and admiration for my efforts? If I am honest, the answer is that sometimes that is true in me.

     But sometimes, Love emerges pure and clean, no strings attached. The moment I held my grandson only minutes after he arrived into our world was a moment bathed in pure and deep Love. That same Love found its way into being through my hands time and time again at the bedside, especially with those who could not respond and had nothing to give in return. The darkest corners of my memories, however, are those moments when I gave less than my all, whether from fatigue or distraction or judgment. To give less than our all is depleting, but to give all is to receive all.

     The gift of Love that is ours to give rests in the quiet content of our mind and heart. The dissatisfaction or discontent we may experience in giving come when we hold back part of our love or acceptance at the moment of our giving. The real treasure is the truth that unfolds in the giving – the more we give, the more we have to give. Love asks not for partial commitment but for total commitment, no holding back, without expectation of reward, response, or return. The moment I attach any of that to my gift of Love, the gift is diminished and in the end so am I.

     Love never fails when it is freely and fully given. It restores, replenishes, renews, and invites to give again and again. That seems like a pretty good ROI to me.

    

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6 responses to “Days 283-286 – Love’s ROI”

  1. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Catherine,
    As I re-read your meditation this morning, I am appreciative of your honesty. It seems that to bring our motivations gently into the light, is a Loving act in itself. I think it is when we can’t accept ourselves and try to hide our thoughts and unconscious motivations, that we get stuck. I also appreciate your wisdom that inspires me to Love more without holding back, and without expectation.
    And I love that Love is made visible on these pages.

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  2. Diana Gallaher Avatar
    Diana Gallaher

    Cathy, your meditation is so meaningful and Liz, your words add to the richness of it. When I meditate on these words, I think your opening biblical quote sums it up for me today: Love never fails. Thank you both.

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  3. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    I came across this quote this afternoon in one of our Health Systems Quality report and thought I would share it.
    There is no fear in love;
    but perfect love casts out fear:
    Because fear has punishment.
    And he that fears is not made perfect in love.
    We love because He loved us first,
    1 John 4:18

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  4. Xavier Espinosa Avatar
    Xavier Espinosa

    Every Sunday throughout my growing up, my parents would take us somewhere “to be of service” Sometimes it was to the convalescent hospital where we would read to the residents or pass out gifts, to a local center where we would help with the retarded children who attended a program, but always someplace to be of service.
    As we grew older we might complain and my mother would answer- “You have everything”.
    My New Years Mantra plays over and over in my head:
    “Face the Oneness-
    The Truth is Simple-
    Do What you Know to be Right-
    With Humility”
    I see the oneness around me all the time in the work of those who I respect for their selflessness, those who give instinctively. They are the happy ones, they are the ones who inspire hope, they help to others find the “what “ they are living for, and it makes the “how” more easier to take in bad times- which tend to be few.
    Recently I was asked to deliver the invocation for The Orange County Ca Chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses. Because I believe all wonderful things that have been said need repeating, I looked for an appropriate reflection to share with the group. I found it in an essay written by the late Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador who was assassinated while celebrating the Eucharist. Entitled “Commentary on the Work of Justice and Peace” He says “How beautiful will be the day when a new society, instead of selfishly hoarding and keeping, apportions, shares, divides up, and all rejoice because we all feel we are children of the same God!
    This is the true Caritas. One that is not only content to feed someone out of a noble enthusiasm, to give aid in an emergency situation, but one which, looking toward a better future, also teaches the poor how to work in order to earn their livelihood with dignity.”
    I give because I was taught to give, to be of service. My giving wants for nothing in return. Yet I found that much is given to me. Not in material objects, although one friend once commented that mine is an existence of “perpetual acquisitions”, but in the intrinsic satisfaction of seeing something good happen. Hearing a student tell me “You gave us hope”.
    Again I delve deeper into my “coming into Wisdom”. I study the words of my parents, and I reach clarity on comments overheard for years and never understood.
    Recently when facing a particularly distressing time at the hands of someone else my mother said to me “Acts of unkindness are rooted in jealousy. When someone is unkind to you, look at what you have and see what they want. And then send it to them with love; they need it more that you do- look at what they are willing to do to get it. Never ask for more, hope for enough. Enough to be happy, enough to be safe. You have everything”

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  5. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Xavier,
    I do not feel particularly eloquent with my words tonight, but I wish to earnestly say…I can see how your mother has blessed you with her wisdom and influenced your calling to a life of service. It is so true, we “do have everything” but, we miss seeing it. Thank you for this gift.
    ~liz

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  6. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    The words of your mom have continued to resonate with me this weekend. Most often, I am not content with my life in this world just as it is. Instead, I think, life would be better if I just did this, or if I was more like this…Yet, when I stop thinking and become present, I experience the peace of the moment and recognize nothing is lacking. I love the quiet calm of morning; outside it is disturbingly windy and cold. This morning I read a passage from the “Course in Miracles” (page 40) which, connects with the Journal’s thread. I would like to share an abbreviated version of it with you, “Prayer is the medium of miracles. But the only meaningful prayer is for forgiveness because those who are forgiven have everything. Prayer for forgiveness is nothing more than a request that you may be able to recognize what you already have. You have lost the knowledge that you yourself are a miracle of God.
    Perception is impossible without a belief in “more” and “less.” At every level, it involves selectivity. Perception is a continual process of accepting and rejecting, organizing and reorganizing, shifting and changing. Evaluation is an essential part of perception, because judgments are necessary in order to select.
    What happens to perceptions if there are no judgments and nothing but perfect equality? Perception becomes impossible, Truth can only be known. Forgiveness is the healing of the perception of the separation. Correct perception of your brother and sister is necessary, because minds have chosen to see themselves as separate. Communion, not prayer, is the natural state of those who know. God and His miracle are inseparable. Know yourself in the One Light where the miracle of you is perfectly clear.”
    Or in the words of your mom, “You have everything.”

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