Journal of Sacred Work

Days 363 to New Year Days 2 & 3 - Smooth Lightning

   Some people have the presence of smooth lightning. Their warmth appears with a bolt of lightning that we can feel in our being. 

   The sick want a calming presence and the lightning of healing. Numerous studies show that a patient's blood pressure and heart rate are immediately affected by the way a doctor or nurse enters the room.

   The same is true in our other encounters. We affect each others energy. 

   CBS Sunday Morning ran an end-of-the year segment called "Hail & Farewell" about those who lit up our lives and died during 2013. I thought of a man I met who was murdered on the edge of summer, 1968.

   Bobby Kennedy had more smooth lightning in his presence than any man I ever encountered. In the summer of 1967 I was a staff aid to Congressman Robert Taft, Jr. One day I was invited to hear Bobby speak.

   The small auditorium was jammed. Pushed forward by the crowd I ended up sitting on the floor ten feet from Senator Kennedy. 

   After his remarks I was ushered out of a side exit. The door closed behind me and there I was one-on-one with Kennedy. 

   He was as gentle as he was strong. His federal blue eyes were light-filled. As so often happens during magic I don't remember what he said. Everything was in his eyes.

   Ten months later he lay bleeding to death. The country never got a chance to find out how he would have led our nation. But, certainly he would have led us out of the disaster called the Viet Nam War and thus saved thousands of lives.

   What light shines from your presence? How does your arrival affect the health of your patients. Can you be a pathway to the smooth lightning they seek?

-Erie Chapman 

Days 361-362 Love's Perfection

I invite you to watch this video and then share your reaction.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E8umFV69fNg

We receive collective messages about beauty from an early age. It is not uncommon to see an eight year old girl dressing like Madonna. In my time, the perfect body was objectified in little girls as we played with our Barbie dolls.

I imagine this was a transformative experience for all who participated in making this video; the people modeling, the artists and for us viewers. Honoring the sacredness of the human form touches the core of Beauty.

It was poetry in motion to behold the look on each person’s face as he or she gazed upon their reflected image. The way their expressions flowered in self-love was magical.

I found myself smiling, as I watched the woman staring into the store front window at her mannequin's likeness, much to the surprise of passersby’s.

Ah, to be welcomed in just as we are; isn't this every heart’s longing? Our Holiness blesses all that we see. This is Love’s divine gift to us.

Contributed by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Days 356-360 - Music & Your Soul

"Music is a basic need of human survival." - Karl Paulnack

   Listen to Samuel Barber's music (video below) while you are reading this and see if you agree with Paulnack. 

   When I add music to this photograph "Anna's Hair Cascading" it will bring new life to the image.

   Take music from a wren and he cannot speak. Songs are the words of his being.

   But, how about you? Do you really have to have music to live?

   Music lives at the center of our humanity. It brings meaning to Christmas, to Hanukkah to all of our sacred celebrations.

   Yet, when budget cuts strike our schools it is music and other arts that are often the first things to go. What is education without that which helps us understand our hearts?

   A friend shared with me Karl Paulnack's welcome address at The Boston Conservatory of Music. Paulnack reminds us that the ancient Greeks saw music as helping us understand "the invisible relationships between internal objects." He shares a story about the origin of Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time: 

   Messiaen was 31 years old, he writes, when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940 and imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp. 

   He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose, and fortunate to have musician colleagues in the camp, a cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist. Messiaen wrote his quartet with these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the repertoire.

   Music in the middle of a concentration camp when all anyone thought was needed was food and shelter? From the depths of hell, music brought more important food: a reason to live. 

   Music is holy. Songs heal.

   Listen to Silent Night or play a clip from Samual Barber's soul-stirring Adagio for Strings (below.) Ask yourself why joy and tears may well up.

   It is because music not only matters, it is essential to Love's expression. 

-Erie Chapman 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRMz8fKkG2g

 

Days 354-355 Blessings of Love

 

In the fullness of life we can experience the many nuances of love. The Ancient Greek’s were able to distinguish the various facets of love imbued in the words; xenia, philia. storge, eros and agape.

Xenia is the word that describes hospitality, a friendship that is formed between a guest and their host. I experienced a profound hospitality when I visited Ireland, known as the land of a 1000 welcomes. In every encounter, I was welcomed, not as a stranger but as a friend offering my gratitude as repayment.

Philia is the love of friends and represents a loyalty to one friends, family and community based on a mutually beneficial relationship that is fair, equitable and based on trust.

Eros embodies passion and romance with the sensual qualities of longing and ecstatic desire that accompanies falling in love. Over time this love may evolve into a true appreciation of the beauty within one’s lover and a deeper appreciation of beauty for beauty’s sake. Here the soul recalls the wisdom of Beauty, which informs spiritual truth.

Storge emulates the incredibly powerful bond of parental love and affection for one's child.

Agape is unconditional love through the grace of God; a love that is not earned but rather bestowed as our true inheritance. We are born of love, we return to love, and to live love is our defining purpose.

Soon we will celebrate divine love in human form with the birth of Jesus, the Christ child. In this season of Advent may we remember the miracle of love, which is passed on to us through the ages.

 Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within yourself let grow
A boundless love for all creatures.

Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.

Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.

Buddha Discourse on Goodwill, from the Metta Sutta

Five Ages Dancing: Remembering Sage Cowells

My Christmas greeting to you

With Love,

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Watercolor Mandala by ~liz

Note: Source for Greek words for love, Wikepedia

Days 349-353 - Winter Comforts

   If you are feeling imprisoned by winter there is a spot where sun blooms: the fireplace. During forty years in Ohio I found solace in those burning logs and named them the sunshine of winter. 

   Our fires, of course, are weak substitutes for the fire in the sky. Winter can bring moods as grey as its clouds.

   That is why it is so important for you to cultivate comfort. Outdoor walks are important. Indoors, books are always a fine choice.

   Yet, ever since the delivery men hauled a television set into our home in 1951 I've been in love.

   A huge piece of furniture encased our ten-inch version. A test pattern decorated the screen until, around five in the evening, electronic snow scattered Mount Whitney's peak heralding the arrival of Jack Benny, "Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour" and, best of all, movies.

   To this day, it is film that brings me some of the warmest comfort. My favorite movie-when-I'm sick is "Groundhog Day."

   TCM is also a great friend. There, I can join my pal Humphrey Bogart in his search for the Maltese Falcon, sit in Rick's Cafe as he romances Ingrid Bergman and search for gold with him in the Sierra Madre.

   Because of DVDs I always have the luxury of boarding a Hitchcock train with Farley Granger and Robert Walker or strolling the streets of Bedford Falls with Jimmy Stewart. A push of the button and "Seinfeld" brings laughs.  

   Most people like to deny that they watch television. But, it is a great invention if you choose carefully. I never tire of watching Ken Burns' brilliant documentary on PBS, "The Civil War."

   Shortly before he died at age ninety my father said "Well, I guess I've watched enough Columbos." I found the comment heartbreaking but the truth is Peter Falk brought healing moments to him as he lived his final days with prostate cancer. 

   What comforts you? Why is that important?

   Your quiet joys are not guilty pleasures. Cultivating your comforts provides the rest you need to live Love. 

-Erie Chapman 

Days 347-348 Your True Inheritance

 

To be human is to become visible

while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others.

To remember the other world in this world
is to live in your true inheritance.

-David Whyte

 Love is the source of our being. To gaze into the eyes of another and become visible to yourself, is the miracle of Love.

During the season of Advent; this time of waiting with anticipation and hope, reflect on David Whyte's invitation. 

 

Contributed by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Watercolor by ~liz

Days 342-344 - Loving Your Space

   Love always circles back to the lover. This truth extends to the  inanimate.

   Love the space you occupy and the space will love you. Treat your environment as sacred and you become a part of the sacred. Know that the spaces you honor are not always grand. You make a place sacred by the way you see it and treat it. 

   It was just another hay-strewn hut until Mary birthed Jesus in it. A humble log cabin in Kentucky is today hallowed as the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. A shabby room in a French pension became famous when Vincent Van Gogh rendered it so vividly that his painting now hangs in another sacred place, the Louvre. 

   What spaces are sacred to you?

   Loving your physical space seems easy when it is a flower-drenched meadow, a forest populated with Sequoias or your own bedroom decorated with things you love. When you design a room to your taste, you pick what comforts your body and inspires your soul. 

   What if your home is a prison cell? In the wake of Nelson Mandela's death millions revisit in picture and in person a stark cell (left) sanctified by Mandela's imprisonment in it for twenty-seven years. One of his greatest legacies was his refusal to pursue revenge after his release in 1990 and his 1994 ascendancy to the presidency of South Africa.

   Mandela said that if he hated his jailers he would trade one prison for another. By loving his enemies, Mandela pointed you to the truth that prison is not only a physical cell but can be built with your attitude. 

   No matter how grand or humble, can you flavor the place where you work with Love?  Can you make your job setting holy by creating sacred encounters there?

   There is no more sacred "space" than the spiritual square footage of your soul. There is no greater thing you can do than to decorate your life with Love. 

-Erie Chapman

Days 340-341 Truly, Solely, Madly...Be

In a famous Princeton study, a group of Seminarians were recruited under the guise of religious education. The seminarians were asked to give a talk on the parable of the Good Samaritan. They were divided into two groups where the timeframes to arrive at the lecture hall varied. As each seminarian walked to the hall they unexpectedly passed a man who was slumped over on the ground in distress. Several of the seminarians were in too much of a hurry to stop and render assistance.

These results showed that the amount of imposed “hurriedness” on participants had a significant impact on helping behaviors regardless of the fact that they were about to give a lecture on the Good Samaritan. Ironically, when a person is in a hurry he or she will be less likely to help someone in need.

What a powerful illustration of what can happen when we get so caught up in our busyness that we completely miss the opportunity to be there for one another. It is also a cautionary reminder that our daily agenda and list of priorities can take on an inflated sense of importance.

How often do lose out on the chance of being fully present with others in small and big ways? The greatest gift we can offer another human being is the gift is of our full attention. When it comes down to what really matters, this is everything, isn’t it? This generosity of spirit is cultivated by intentional  practice.

 Incidentally, this is true for how we show up for ourselves too. We tend to ignore our bodies need for rest and relaxation. In our drive to accomplish more we push beyond what is reasonable. When difficult emotions arise that need attention we can quickly dismiss them as irrelevant. Yet, we thirst for mutual understanding, compassion and forgiveness.

In this season of Advent, of hopeful anticipation, may practice generosity by intentionally slowing down and sharing the gift of our true selves.

Note: This essay reflects a few takeaways from listening to Tara Brach speak about generosity. You can listen to this podcast and many other remarkable teachings at:  http://tarabrach.com/audioarchives2013.html

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Watercolor by ~liz

Days 335-339 - Are We More Compassionate?

   "Love alters not when it alteration finds..." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

   Billions have walked this earth since Shakespeare's time. How much has love altered "when it alteration" found in each of those lives? 

   What is the experience of Love in our era versus that in Shakespeare or Jesus or Abraham's time? 

   I have the privilege of addressing audiences about such things: That Love's energy does not change, that the human vessel into which it is poured always does and that Radical Loving Care can make a difference.

   What revolutions technology has wrought! If our ancestors appeared could they comprehend how computers and medicine have transformed the world?

   People live longer. There are billions more of us. And in the developed world pain can now be relieved.

   Artists, scientists and caregivers enjoy the luxury of learning from all who came before. Artists and scientists have progressed. Have the hearts of caregivers changed?

    Today's artists weave on looms of light unthinkable in earlier eras. Leonardo da Vinci could not have envisioned a talking picture masterpiece like "Casablanca" nor that a nude could be photographed just as Beethoven could not imagine the power of jazz nor Newton lasers.

   Scientists have developed more magical tools in the past thirty years than Merlin could have conjured. Countless diseases have been eliminated and most body parts are now replaceable. 

   Creativity and innovation are alive and surging. What about compassion?  We can be glad it endures and hope that it thrives. 

   Yet, in spite of everything history and religion have taught us, Jews, Christians, Muslims and those of other faiths seem to live Love no better than did their predecessors.

  Only Radical Loving Care can change and sustain the human heart. But most of us will not let it in. If we did, we would discover that phenomenon that always surprises us: When we give, we receive.

-Erie Chapman