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.

I’m So Glad We Had That Time Together

 

Carol burnett with mop and pail   We who followed Carol Burnett know she ended her incredibly popular T.V. show (1967-1978) singing, "I'm so glad we had this time together…" But why was she wearing housekeeper's clothes and mopping?

   One morning, my practice of periodically working with first line staff across three hospitals brought to a delivery room beside a woman on the verge of motherhood at Riverside.

   As I stood admiring the drama, I thought "What great nurses," and, "Wonderful how the doctor cheers on his patient as she labors to birth a new being." 

   How lucky I was to witness sacredness in my workplace. The patient was not my wife, at whose side I had been at our daughter's birth, but a "stranger" kind enough to let me join her in her holy moments.  

   After everyone left, I lingered outside the delivery room. Suddenly, an Epiphany. A woman towing a pail appeared wielding a mop. 

   "Hey, Mr. Chapman," Epiphany said, "Wanna come help me clean up?"

   I froze. Could I return to the bloody wreckage left from the sacred event?

   Epiphany laughed. "Yeah. I know. No one likes the dirty work."

   Yes. The "dirty work" is also sacred as are caregivers who mop it up. 

   We loved Carol Burnett for projecting humility. For singing as she mopped the floor "alone" before millions. 

   I love you caregivers whose only audience, often, was the patient. Thanks for letting for me accompany you a bit before I retreated to my too-fancy office.

   Delivering babies, fixing plumbing, scanning spreadsheets. Everyone is a caregiver I remind "C-suite" leaders nationwide.

   You devoted your careers to healing in monotonous as well as momentous hours. After the wounded are healed, the ill vomit, the mom delivers, someone has to clean up. Someone has to ensure the electricity is on, the money collected, staff cared for. Someone has to show up for the next shift. 

   I'm so glad we had that time together. 

-Erie Chapman

DONATE A DOLLAR? via  https://www.eriechapmanfoundation.net. This charity supports the Journal. Thank you so much! – Erie 

 

   

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2 responses to “I’m So Glad We Had That Time Together”

  1. Liz Wessel Avatar
    Liz Wessel

    This is such a lovely reflection Erie and there are so many pearls of wisdom offered by you. Your practice of working alsongside frontline caregivers in the hospital setting and experiencing what a day is like for them must have been eye opening and so informative. I imagine the caregivers felt seen and heard and appreciated by you. To think that the leader of the organization took the time do do this must have been truly remarkable to them.
    I appreciate as well that you point out the monotonous as well as the momentous. What gets caregivers through those long hard stress filled days is the deeper meaning in their work. They hold tight to the vision of the why they do what they do and that’s what keeps them going… or at least that was my experience. The leadership team sets the tone and inspirational is a gift you offered.
    Personally, I had the honor to read so many caregiver values nominations through the years and the love that infuses the work of caregivers is what has inspired me tremendously. My why is what kept me going in the difficult times and to witness the courage, love and stentgth not only of caregivers but of the patients and families we served… all such a blessing.

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  2. Erie Chapman Foundation Avatar
    Erie Chapman Foundation

    Yes, thank you Liz. As Victor Frankl points out in “Man’s Search for Meaning”, quoting Nietzsche, “He (sic) who has a why can bear almost any how.” Implying that that person who does NOT have a why can bear very little.
    So many leaders think that for first line staff, it’s all about the pay. I never agreed with that (assuming existing pay is fair) and perhaps that is one reason why the 3 different hospital systems I ran had both record employee and patient satisfaction. Yet, it is supremely difficult to get CEOs to follow this example more than a time of two IF that.
    THANK YOU for being such a model of purpose for decades.

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