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 132-136 – The Enemies of Presence

Self port 1977 with collage & future angel2 (1) E    Last summer, my then 18-month-old grandson looked into the mirror. His father asked, "Who is that?" "Reed," he answered as if he had discovered gold. And my son said to his son, "That's right!"

   Reed had entered a "reality" that governs our lives: That the person in the mirror is us.

   We know there is not just one of us. The self portrait from 1977 has been updated with images of different "me's" at different ages being watched over by a guardian angel. All of those people are within me now accompanied by a crowd of others. 

   The importance of our multiple personas is a fact routinely & tragically overlooked by many caregivers. The doctor or nurse that sees the wrinkled skin of an elderly patient & brands them as old & less relevant misses the complex humanity of the many people that person has been…and is. Loving caregivers give better care because they understand the many lives inside the one before them

   So many personas lurk within: The brilliant you, the angry you. The you who grieves, laughs, lies, plays childlike with a child, treats your dog as a person, speaks rudely to a clerk. 

   And there is the you who wants to escape the present. To run from the fear of being trapped by constantly scanning for the nearest exit.

   This helps when threats are as real as an attacking Grizzly.  But for many running away is a strategy to escape not just headaches or an angry boss but fear of abandonment, loss of hope or simple ennui.

    Fear is the enemy of presence. Fear blocks adventure & discovery, can destroy relationships & defeat meaningful experiences.

   Fear does not just make us run from tigers. If you routinely choose flight it can deaden your life.

   Strangely, one of the most effective ways to deal with most threats is to stand still. Embrace your fear & thus weaken its power over you. 

   The most soul-enriching path is the hardest to choose: To sit with Fear. Watch it. Befriend it as a teacher that will illuminate truth. To listen to it as a guide to the Love we were meant to live.

-Erie Chapman

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5 responses to “Days 132-136 – The Enemies of Presence”

  1. Terry Chapman Avatar
    Terry Chapman

    Wow! Deep and penetrating piece about fear and presence! Two instances in my life come to mind: the first is the only time I confronted a bear while fly fishing on my own stream in MA. Rounding a corner in a forested pathway I sensed another living presence and saw ahead of me at 50’a sizeable black bear paused and sniffing the air. My first reaction was to turn and disappear; but I also felt an instinctive desire to pause as we both returned stares. He then sauntered across and into the woods and I returned to my car, but changed forever!
    The other occasion came when I walked along a narrow catwalk aboard a USNR cable layer in the Gulf of Mexico late at night heading to stand watch at the stern. As our ship leaned far right and then far left, I felt a chill head up my spine but also a calming and loving presence walking with me: God was there far from shore! Both these experiences have brought me closer to accepting fear as a bridge to a fuller knowledge of life and its wonder!

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  2. Erie Chapman Foundation Avatar
    Erie Chapman Foundation

    Thank you, Terry. You are so typically wise (and spiritual) to have held onto these memories and interpreted them the way you have.
    I believe most people have had many moments like this and that the vast majority have dismissed them – thus missing the great impact such encounters can have.
    Related to this are the countless times all of us have faced fear and run away – sometimes wisely but many times at the expense of our souls – as pieces of it break away each time we compromise values by choosing cowardice.

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  3. Barbara L Santoro Avatar
    Barbara L Santoro

    Thank you for this simple, concise, loving bit of wisdom. This whole ‘feeling the fullness of emptiness’ is challenging to say the least. I can feel in my bones how much the fear and the projections of dire outcomes is the true enemy of solace, presence, as you say. The deadening can be deafening, effectively drowning out the stillness so necessary for our well being. Doing my best to be here now. Thank you again.

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  4. Erie Chapman Foundation Avatar
    Erie Chapman Foundation

    Wow. Barbara. You are SO wonderful to have come over to this site. To read this post. And most of all to offer your eloquence and your insights. Love to you for doing this and hope you will come back again!!

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  5. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Every person has a unique story to tell and when a space opens for a person to share with us, you know that you have entered sacred ground…
    It’s so true that we all carry within diverse aspects of ourselves and a wide range of emotions. When receiving criticism or praise it helps to remember that is only one aspect of who we are… how often do we run from those less than admirable traits, rather than turn to lean in and offer it our kindness and presence, or as you say, Erie, to befriend…
    I appreciate the wisdom offered in your thought provoking reflection, Erie.

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