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.

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Days 129-133 – From Which Well Do You Drink?

May 7, 2012

Your love has an eloquent tone./ The sky and I want to hear it! – Hafiz

For years I've written, spoken, and otherwise obsessed about how to live Love not fear. What would that look like?

Love cannot flow down the throat of a spirit blocked by fear. How do we pivot away from our fear-driven egos to drink in Love's energy?

In Jesus' encounter with the woman at Siloam, he describes the difference between the water that slakes her bodily thirst and the "living water" that nourishes her spirit so that "you will never be thirsty again."

Most of us drink each day from the well of fear. The water is toxic yet we swallow it drop by drop as if we had no choice.

We draw from it because our egos are forever thirsty for attention. When praise comes the ego swells with delight. But criticism brings agony and a new scar to add to all the others.

Once again, there is Eckhart's Tolle observation that the ego takes everything personally. How to escape?

Learning how to drink Love's water calls us to cognitive therapy's classic (if mechanical-sounding) steps.

Awareness: We become aware that we are not our ego and therefore can observe it rather than be it.

Acceptance: We accept and prioritize this issue knowing we can succeed. We look to Love's well for spiritual nourishment.

Envisioning: The third step requires that we envision living from Love, not fear. What does life look like as we recognize when our ego is driving us? How much of our day do we live in fear? Can we imagine a life in which this fear no longer drives us?

Action: Practice living this new vision in everyday life.

But, this is merely a guide. Like the instructions on how to play a new game, it is easy to toss aside.

Indeed, the final action step is hardly final. Change requires that we choose this new path in every moment because our ego-driven pattern of action and reaction is so deeply ingrained.

Tolle is famous for his work describing how to live in the now. His concepts map out the journey to Love's well by freeing us from the baggage of past pain and our anxiety about the future.

In our "now" we can imagine a whole new way of being in Love.

For caregivers this life view recognizes that both passion and compassion flow more truly from this new way of being than from the old, anxiety-driven way.

Neither creativity nor romance are diluted. Instead, both of these expressions arise from Love not fear.

Fear fuels desire, not Love.

Love leads us to genuine passion.

How exhausting to drink each day from Fear's well. How exhilarating to discover Love's well and there to drink, perhaps for the first time, free of worry.

"Your love has an eloquent tone."

Sing.

-Erie Chapman

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6 responses to “Days 129-133 – From Which Well Do You Drink?”

~liz Wessel

May 7, 2012

I guess my evolving thought does not consider fear as much an enemy as a teacher. I don’t think I want to deny fear or eradicate it from my life. Perhaps, offer safety for expression and acceptance without criticism,which nurtures mutual growth as fear is transformed by Love. That is what I hope for from my friends; that is what I need most from myself. Even the smallest intention and action each day towards this end can eventually prove golden.

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candace nagle

May 8, 2012

Sometimes it seems that fear is the automatic system in place…as you say it is deeply ingrained. And it is constantly being fed by events and imaginings. The ego wants to survive above all else and at any cost to self or others it seems. I like the idea of fear being a teacher. And I like the idea of using the tools of awareness, acceptance, envisioning, and action. The first two would be something like what Thich Nhat Hanh would say, “Good morning Fear, how are you today? Sit down, have tea.” To just be aware and accept brings in the love…then the envisioning and action bring the transformation. One thing to add here, is that this opening and moving from fear to love needs community. It is very difficult to do alone, without the support of other fellow travelers. I know I would not be able to move from fear to love without the support and encouragement of a community…like you.

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melissa Scott

May 10, 2012

Liz, that was very well put and I like the idea of fear as a teacher. I too always try to introspectively evaluate my fears and allow them to say things to me about me and where I am currently at.
At times I allow fear to not be my teacher but be my guide and that usually leads to a lesson learned but not in the nicest way

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Maria Doglio

May 10, 2012

How we find the path of Love depends on where we are on unique path of life and the lessons we have “signed up” to learn. We can guide people, or tell them this is what you need to do, but it truely has to come from within the individual at their own given time of awakening. It’s a learned process and it’s not easy in this fear based society where you are drilled in the MUST FEAR everything/everyone syndrome. Some fear mechanisms are a good thing, but others go beyond reason and keep us imprisioned.
I think the best teachers of love is to live it by example—Love is free and is all around. It is the core of us and is always there. When we find it within, we find it outside ourselves. When we love deeply we become a magnet for all things love to come to us. When we fear deeply, we become a magnet of that fear, be it disease or circumstance, what we fear most will come to us.
When Fear comes up, surround it with love. It’s the only practice you need. Fear cannot survive within the vibration of love. It dissapates it entirely.

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Karen York

May 10, 2012

I love the photograph Erie. It makes we want to relax in a Japanese garden sipping tea, wearing a kimono.

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marily

May 14, 2012

If this is the only step to remember, I may say … Love leads us to genuine passion… in our awareness, acceptance, envisioning and action.. living love in the here and now, drinking in Love’s well, gives us the taste of “free of worry”, I am taking it.

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