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 289-290 – The “Thing With Feathers”

"Hope is the thing with feathers/ That perches in the soul,/ And sings the tune without the words,/ and never stops at all,…"   -Emily Dickinson

   I saw her tonight for the first time in eight years. She and I used to work together until we went in different directions. The last time I looked into her eyes, her pain was visible. "It's just in my back," she smiled, "nothing life threatening."

   Over this past eight years, the pain that was "just in her back" destroyed the quality of almost every one of her waking moments. Tonight, I saw her eyes clear of pain once again.

   The hope that perches in the souls of each of had once again flight in hers. After numerous treatments and several other procedures, the most recent surgery, a fusion, had worked.

   Every day, every large hospital in America awakens to a day of surgery. In every part of the country, patients awake in fear of what will happen to their bodies when they are put to sleep. Will the cancer be removed successfully? Will the heart be repaired so it may beat for many more years? Will blinded eyes once again see the world? Will hope take flight?

   "Hope is the things with feathers," Dickinson wrote in the first stanza of one of her more famous poems. There it is is "perching" within the souls of each of us. What helps it take flight? What crushes it?

   "You're going to be fine," a nurse will say to an anxious patient. But, both nurse and patient know that outcomes are never certain.

   It's a remarkable and oft-forgotten truth. Only we can decide if we are "fine." Yet, how can we retain any kind of serenity if the beast of pain continues to claw at us? The dragon of fear will not leave us alone if we simply shout for him to go away. Only Love can replace fear.

   What Emily Dickinson reminds us is that hope is always there. What we know is that hope takes flight whenever Love spreads her wings within us.

   Caregivers have great power to heal. They can open their hearts and hands and offer the Love which is the only antidote to fear.

-Reverend Erie Chapman

  

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5 responses to “Days 289-290 – The “Thing With Feathers””

  1. xavier espinosa Avatar
    xavier espinosa

    Like much of the world, I was transfixed watching the developments at “Camp Hope” where the rescue efforts for the trapped Chilean mine workers was taking place. Through the technology of cable, I followed the efforts as reported by Chilean news reporters. One of the stories reported was that of the sister of one of the miners who had maintained a prayer vigil at the site since the day of the collapse. Undeterred by the impossible, she never left. The fact that her brother was buried under the ground at a distance of six times the height of the tallest building in Chile did not dissuade her. The cameras fixed on her face as she watched the cables that pulled Fenix capsule spin and as the top of the pod appeared and as she watched her brother emerge from inside the cage that held him. This was the face of hope “that perches in the soul,/ And sings the tune without the words,/ and never stops at all,…”
    I once met a patient with a sizable brain tumor who was scheduled for a very risky surgery. The physician took great care in explaining the procedure to the elderly mother who was not at all sophisticated, she was a farmer woman from a very backward town who spoke no English. The physician talked about the probable poor outcome of the surgery which could mean permanent damage or death, but he was hoping for the best. The old woman looked at us stoically, stood up and fixed her gaze at the physician, “I have no hope for my daughter” she said “I have faith that God will see through your eyes, he will guide your hands, he will do what he must do through you because he can not do it from heaven. You were not born to fail, you were born to do as he wants. I have faith in him but I have hope that you will do as God directs so that my daughter can be healed.” “Hope is the thing with feathers/ That perches in the soul”
    Hope has a face, hope has a shape, hope has presence. Does hope resemble that of the miner’s sister’s face? The old woman at her daughter’s bedside? Or can it be seen as our reflection of our face in that of our patient’s eyes as we care for them in the smallest of encounters or the greatest of risks? It is our commitment to do what we do best, without judgment, without self doubt, without shame, without hesitation because like the old woman our patients have faith but importantly they have the hope that we will do what we know to be right.
    As is written today- “What we know is that hope takes flight whenever Love spreads her wings within us.”

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  2. Victoria Facey Avatar
    Victoria Facey

    Hope is a place I enter every work day. I hope that I can make a positive difference in my actions; I hope that the day will go well for me, my co-workers, our patients and our agency. I make this claim because I pray daily and ask God to watch over me and mine. I am fortified in knowing that good will come of all work that is done in God’s name. And, I love the return looks of hope, the kind gestures and support of those I encounter who also share these beliefs…

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  3. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    There is nothing more hopeful than a friend who remembers us in our time of need. What a loving gesture to receive your visit after so many years. That in itself is a gift to be treasured and affirms the bonds of friendship. Thank you, Erie, for sharing this luminous truth and beautiful image of hope.

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  4. Marily Avatar
    Marily

    One thing that keeps me going everyday, every minute is “hope”. Whatever is ahead of me.. whatever is in store.. in the eyes of hope.. I see things light.. easy to bear, like feathers gently flowing as it’s blown in the air.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRfKZAOaeN0

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  5. Suan Geh Avatar
    Suan Geh

    I remember clearly the words of Nelson Mendela who had endured years of hardship while in prison and was finally released. “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” I am very thankful for a dear friend of mine who stood by me and comforted me in time of need. Her love and support replaced the fear in me. Thank you Erie for your timely word.

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