"We're all so busy chasing the extraordinary that we forget to stop and be grateful for the ordinary." – Brene Brown
One winter night in 1905 eleven-year-old Frank Epperson made an ordinary mistake. After fixing himself a Kool-Aid-like soda he accidentally left it outside.
The next morning, although disappointed by his forgetfulness, he decided to lick the frozen remains. It was delicious.
Thousands of others may have done the same thing that. But, little Frank was the only one who recognized that Mother Nature had handed him a giant opportunity.
Then he did another even more extraordinary thing. He kept his invention secret until 1923 when he secured a patent for his "Popsicle." (Epperson wanted to name his invention "Epp's icicles." But, his kids named it after their dad, who they called "Pop.")
In the intervening eighteen years from discovery to application no one else recognized the potential in converting a frozen drink into world-renown treat. Thus, Frank Epperson changed the world.
Every great invention starts with a creative observation of the ordinary and is realized through persistence.
In 1889, amid the freezing winters of Rochester, a pair of brothers did not think up the Popsicle. Their creation was the Mayo Clinic. Their integrated practice model is repeatedly ranked number one in the country.
But, the Mayo Clinic is more than a great medical center. The "Mayo Way" supports one of the most compassionate care models ever created & the Clinic is ranked as one of the nation's best places to work.
The Popsicle & the Mayo Clinic. Two examples of creating the extraordinary out of the ordinary.
Maybe that is true of Radical Loving Care – the application in healthcare of a two-thousand-year-old idea – love one another no matter what.
-Erie Chapman.
Journal of Sacred Work 
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