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 35-36 – Help & Thanks…to God

"The two best prayers I know are 'help me, help me, help me,' and 'thank you, thank you, thank you." -Author Anne Lamott

AnneLamott    I was trying to think what prayers the eloquent Ms. Lamott (left) omitted from her favorites list. What do you think?

   Perhaps, she overlooked the group of prayers in which we ask God to help others. In fact, these prayers for others may be the best of all. Larry Dossey, M.D., has written powerfully about the impact of prayers made on behalf of others. I know Dr. Dossey and appeared on Dateline, N.B.C. with him about fifteen years ago. Larry offers what he believes is scientific proof that demonstrates that people who are prayed over heal better than those who are not. 

   Whether Larry is correct as to his scientific proof, I believe that loving prayer is always helpful. As we pray, we emphasize our surrender to God's Love. We signal our desire to live Love, not fear. And, yes, we often become supplicants asking for God's help.

   God is always there to help. We don't need to ask God to come to us. We simply need to open the door to let in the energy of God's healing presence.

   It took me a long time to learn this and I find many others don't agree with me. They seem to believe that God is there to be summoned with some kind of 911 call. 

   Caregivers deal with this issue every day. All patients seek healing. All caregivers hope for help in this healing process – both the help of the material world of (drugs and surgery) as well as help from the spiritual world.

   Across thirty-five years in health care, I can say with confidence that the engagement of God's Love through prayer is effective one hundred percent of the time. Our bodies may not always heal through prayer since our bodies are of the world. But, God's light always illuminates the lives and the spirits of those who seek it.

   In fact, it is only through God that we can truly heal.

-Rev. Erie Chapman

  

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5 responses to “Days 35-36 – Help & Thanks…to God”

  1. Karen York Avatar
    Karen York

    I have struggled with the concept of prayer my entire life, often confused by its necessity or its power. I remember a verse I heard often while growing up “pray without ceasing” hmmm… it seemed I had other things to do and couldn’t possibly pray all the time. At that time, my model of prayer was that of the pastor in the church. It seemed ceremonial. What I am learning is what you have stated here. I believe it is living in an ongoing presence of the relationship with love/god and having conversation with that being. In essence we are having conversation with our innermost self. That brings about the energy and healing of god’s love. Thank you for helping illuminate this essence for me.

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  2. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    I listened to a fascinating interview on Speaking of Faith once with Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiovascular surgeon of Columbia University who did research that supports your premise. He commented, “When you finally figure out that you’ve got the best technology available, when you’ve finally climbed the last technology mountain and the patient still doesn’t feel well, that’s when we start looking in areas where we’re much less comfortable, like spirituality and alternative therapies that bridge cultures of healing beyond this country’s borders.”
    As caregivers, when we open our hearts to patients and families we offer the best medicine of all. For me, contemplative prayer is a doorway into a conversation with God, to quiet one self and to listen rather than do all the talking. I’ve discovered that I love praying for others with the Rosaries of Divine Union by Fr. Michael Adams. As you say, prayer opens us to a Loving and compassionate energy. I no longer ask God for specific things because I find offering up a loving intention for people in faith most beneficial.
    I love this Aramaic version of the Lord’s prayer that Father Adam’s shared.
    O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos , focus your light within us—make it useful. Create your reign of unity now; Your one desire acts with ours, as in all light, so in all forms. Grant what we need each day in bread and insight. Loose the cords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strand we hold of others’ guilt. Don’t let surface things delude us, but free us from what holds us back. From you is born all ruling will, the power and the life to do, the song that beautifies all; from age to age it renews. ~Amen
    I thank you for the illumination of today’s Loving meditation.

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  3. Suan B Geh Avatar
    Suan B Geh

    As I ponder on this subject of prayer what comes to my mind is the “Our Father”. We open our being to the very God of Love and Light and He is able to comfort and illume our very being. As you have stated that our bodies may not heal through prayer as our bodies are of this world (as in the case of our Hospice patients) we can surrender our will to our Heavenly Father-“Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven…for Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever and ever. Amen.”

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  4. Victoria Facey Avatar
    Victoria Facey

    To step out on faith and know that God is with you and hears your daily prayers is such a beautiful thing. To be in fear of illness and what is unknown about your fate seems so cruel, yet when prayers are spoken I believe that the comfort is immediate. To live in fear carries negative energy. I know that The Lord will take care of you.
    The verse I take to heart is from the Book of John and begins with “Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go, ye know the way. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; how know we the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

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  5. Marily Paco Tronco Avatar
    Marily Paco Tronco

    “We simply need to open the door to let in the energy of God’s healing presence”.
    It feels so comforting, so easy, blessed that God have us and takes care of everything that we need. Just by acknowledging His constant presence we are never without.
    I am always grateful for the reflections shared in this Journal of Sacred Work, it renews, enlightens, and enriches my mind.

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