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 340-342 – Circling

"I am circling around God, the ancient tower, and I have been circling for a thousand years, and I still don't know if I am a falcon or a storm or a great song." – Rainer Maria Rilke

   Some believe we make more than one journey across this earth. Whether or not you think that, I wonder if you reflect as Rilke did. Are you a falcon? A storm? A great song? Something else?

   Rilke's metaphors are lyrical. The falcon seeks. The storm swirls. The great song vibrates through our hearts. Each is a part of our knowing. Each is unknown.

   We are never just one thing. The caregiver is a mother. The mother is a wife. The wife is a daughter and a friend and a seeker of loving relationships. She is also a victim of anger, agony and betrayal. She lives at the center of the storm and lies in the trough of calm. She forever seeks. She sings the great song.

   Do we ever stop to contemplate who we are as we go about the joy and sorrow of caregiving? Thomas Merton wrote that "… the ideas of prayer, meditation and contemplation have been associatedwith [the] deepening of one's personal life and [the] expansion of the capacity to understand and serve others."

   Perhaps, we are more than falcon or storm or song. Perhaps, we are all the same soul, divided into different bodies that choose to live closer or further from God's Love.

   We travel the earth for awhile, searching and swirling. Sometimes we sing to the suffering. Sometimes we suffer ourselves – all the while "circling around God, the ancient tower."  

Reverend Erie Chapman

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6 responses to “Days 340-342 – Circling”

  1. Karen York Avatar
    Karen York

    Such a beautiful meditation Erie and Rilke is one of my favorites as you know. Thank you for this blessing today.

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  2. Victoria Facey Avatar
    Victoria Facey

    Reverend Erie, what a great thing to read – “we are never just one thing”; I’m inspired immediately. And, I believe I am a song, for I always have a melody in my mind as I go through the day.
    I feel celebrated today as I can relate to everything you’ve shared with us. Thank you so much!

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  3. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Circling, but when someone we love dies I wish the world could stop…at least pause. We did that for a little while yesterday to honor the life of one we mourn. Circling around God, sharing One soul, yes, and sometimes we sing our suffering as one.
    Thank you for sharing a glimpse of soul’s beauty.

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  4. ann kaiser Avatar
    ann kaiser

    I beleive we are all of these things on different days. Some days we soar through the storm , some days we are our own storm, and some days I reflect to one of my favorite songs…. Here are the lyrics……. “When you walk through the storm
    Hold your head up high
    And don’t be afraid of the dark
    At the end of the storm
    There’s a golden sky
    And the sweet silver song of the lark
    Walk on, through the wind
    Walk on, through the rain
    Though your dreams be tossed and blown
    Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
    And you’ll never walk alone
    You’ll never walk alone”.

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  5. Maria Doglio Avatar
    Maria Doglio

    Erie, this is lovely. I am one who believes we circle this Earth many times until we can graduate from “Earth School”. We are the sum of all our experiences and we find always that in the center is the white light of our creater.
    Liz, I understand how you feel. When my father died, I remember being startled, then angry that the world didn’t stop! After all, this was my Father! The circle of life continued none the less, till mourning and tears gave way to cherished memories of the beautiful one that was in our lives.

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  6. Marily Avatar
    Marily

    For His presence, I am ever grateful. I am glad there is no place that God is not. For the times I thought I have missed to pray, meditate, or contemplate but only just an illusion, a thought … for there is no time measure when we think of love, or when we do love.
    “Sometimes we suffer ourselves – all the while “circling around God, the ancient tower.”

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