Journal of Sacred Work

Days 91-95 Filling Flaws With Gold

     In the 15^th century a Japanese shogun named Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a cracked ceramic bowl to China for repairs. When it was returned, the cracks had been filled with disagreeable metal staples.

     How else could the bowl have been repaired, the shogun wondered. A ritual was born.

    The source of traditions in a country soaked with them can nurture entire philosophies.  Over the past five hundred years the Japanese have converted the repair of cracked ceramics into the fascinating art of Kintsugi. Fissures are filled with gold.

     Wabi-sabi is the gift of embracing flaws by making the cracks places where beauty rises up from damage. The marriage of wabi-sabi and Kintsugi births the art of self-healing.

    Caregivers are forever berating themselves for not being perfect. We fill the cracks in spirit with lead instead of healing them with gold. Kintsugi provides a loving metaphor through which we can acknowledge our imperfections with joy instead of self-loathing.  

    Embrace your flaws and turn them into gold. Only love’s gold can fill our “cracks’ so that our lives bloom more beautiful than before.

    Failures of self-care cause fatigue that leads to errors & burnout. The pressure of meeting the immediate needs of others causes us to short-change ourselves. Meanwhile, some of us deny rest thinking we do not deserve it.

    "It’s a sad man, my friend, who’s livin’ in his own skin and can’t stand the company," Bruce Springsteen sings. Are we too often unhappy with who is inside our skin? Can we befriend ourselves - become our own best companion?

    We need to be kind to each other. We cannot do this unless we cultivate self-compassion.

    On the other side of the world in the same century as Yoshimasa the sage Kahir offered encouragement:

Inside your body there are flowers.

One flower has a thousand petals.

That will do for a place to sit.

Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty

inside the body and out of it,

Before gardens and after gardens.

 

     Pour gold into your flaws. 

     Sit by the flower within you for two minutes now & recite three things you love about yourself.

-Rev. Erie Chapman

Days 87-88 You Dance

In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty,  how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest, where no one sees you, 
but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art. 
~ Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi ~

Days 82-86 - Art & God

   The Irish are spectacular storytellers. Every year on St. Patrick's Day the Irish jokes abound. My friend, Andy, sent me one that has been told for years (You can tell by the reference to pay phones):

   "While on vacation in Rome, I noticed a marble column in St. Peter's with a golden telephone on it. As a priest passed by, I asked who the telephone was for.

   "The priest said it was a direct line to heaven and if I'd like to call it would be a thousand dollars. I was amazed, but declined.

   "Throughout Italy, I kept seeing the same golden telephone on a marble column. At each, I asked about it and the answer was the same: The call would cost a thousand dollars.

   "In Ireland I decided to attend Mass. When I walked in the door I noticed the golden telephone. Underneath it was a sign: "DIRECT LINE TO HEAVEN: 25 cents."

   "'Father," I said, "I have been all over Italy and in all the cathedrals I've seen telephones exactly like this one. But the price was always a thousand dollars. Why is this one only 25 cents?"

   The priest smiled. "You're in Ireland now. It's a local call.'"

   In the Protestant version the line is, "You're in a Baptist Church now. It's a local call." The Jewish version has less punch because in Jerusalem many religions agree phoning God is a local call. 

   I love this joke in all its forms. I have also wondered why each religion thinks they are closer to God and everyone else is further away.

   God must be like art. Neither can be defined. You know - or you do not. 

-Reverend Erie Chapman 

Photograph & painting by Erie

Days 80-81 The Hand of a Stranger

“The hand of a stranger is the hand of God.” -John O’ Donohue

Whenever St Patrick’s Day rolls around I am mindful of my Irish heritage and the passionate writings of the late John O’ Donohue. His stirring reflections on the Celtic tradition of soul love is one that transforms your way of being in the world. O’ Donohue describes the Celtic imagination in terms of a love of circles. Life flows with a natural rhythm that is attuned to nature amid the seasons of our lives.

The Celts hold dear the mysterious notion of an “Anam Cara” or soul friend, which reveals a friendship that is not “wounded by the limits of separation or distance.” When the confines of ego and persona have melted away, one is able to see beyond the material world. This friendship, O’ Donohue states, “Is an act of recognition and belonging. When a friendship recognizes itself as a gift, it will remain open to its own ground of blessing.”

Love is an expression of affection, connection and affirmation of another’s sacred beauty. Love is a prayer, or as O’ Donohue so eloquently describes “the threshold where divine and human presence” intertwine. There are times when we may feel separate from one another, yet if we reach out our hand we may find there is no longer any stranger, only God. 

Contributed by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Mandala by ~liz

Days 75-79 - Child's Play

   

   My now four-year-old grandson pasted a sticker on the back of my cellphone. It is an image of the great and powerful "Spiderman."

   Little kids (especially little boys?) long to be big and powerful like the adults that tower over them. When they discover superheroes that are even stronger than their parents they bond with them.

   One Sunday School teacher captures the attention of her seven-year-olds by talking about Jesus in superpower terms. Next to Jesus, Superman looks weak.

   He may be able to leap tall building at a single bound. But, Superman and Batman cannot heal the sick the way Jesus could.

   How many of us are still fascinated along with our children at stories of super human performance?

   We long for superpowers. In fact, we already have them. And these powers can accomplish more than Superman himself.

   Your smile will raise the energy of the next person you see. Your affirmation changes the blood chemistry of the people you compliment. Your willingness to listen and be present to others can heal their soul better than can Superman's x-ray vision. 

   "Want to change the world?" Mother Teresa asked. "Go home and love your family."

   Want to change the life of the patients and staff you work with? Go out and love them.

   Every time I look at that Spiderman sticker on my phone I smile. It was placed there by one of my superheroes - a little boy who has the power to make my heart leap tall buildings at a single bound. 

-Erie Chapman 

Days 73-74 Miracles

A miracle

There is much to unlearn.  Parents reflect back to their children society’s messages about how one ought to act. Children are continually reminded and scolded, with good intentions mind you, about the right way to behave, good manners, of what to do and not to do. The voice of criticism and continual correction leaves an indelible mark.

Overtime children learn to mold their identity based on others expectations. Deep down we internalize feelings of not being enough, good enough, pretty enough, successful enough, talented enough, kind enough, giving enough.

is a change

One of the blessings in this latter part of life is to take stock of how much living we have experienced and whether our dreams were accomplished or left untouched, which motivates us to reevaluate our priorities. We have a natural propensity towards experiencing moments that enliven us and offer meaning.

in perception

Just a little willingness enables us to examine those false beliefs cultivated while growing up. We can invite all of them to the sacred alter of our being to forgive, be forgiven and release the weight of what we have carried for so long. Years of conditioning and the external influences that have fashioned our persona.

from fear

Learning is experiential. Relationships are our greatest teachers. Our closest relationships can trigger our greatest pain as we encounter each other’s wounding; the stuck places where we hold back our love.

 to love

Our purpose is to love. Spiritual practices (meditation, prayer) help us to hone our listening skills so that the “still small voice” within will guide our every step. When difficult situations arise we can lash out in fear or see the Holiness in the other person (as well as ourselves.)  It is easy to get caught up in the drama of life but it helps to remember that underlying all our words is a desire to communicate, “I love you.”

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Mandala by ~liz

Note: My essay stems from Marianne Williamson’s teachings and my reflections, both which are based on A Course in Miracles.

Days 68-72 I Don't Know

   The Dalai Lama is revered by Buddhists as their leader and by millions of others for his wisdom as well as his fine sense of humor. After giving a speech at the University of Colorado he fielded questions from the audience.

   Parker Palmer reports that one man rose with an inquiry. Excited at the opportunity to address the great man he went on and on. As Palmer pointed out, "People who ask long, rambling 'questions' don't really stop. They sort of subside, as the surf does now and then." 

   Finally, the man got to a question. How can my wife and I raise our three small children?

   After a pause, the Dalai Lama spoke: "How should I know? I MONK!"

   How incredibly refreshing. "How does it feel to step into a stream, Daddy?" Step in. 

   Since the Journal began eight years ago I have often felt odd about offering you answers. How should I know? 

   Caregivers (and their leaders) often think they are supposed to have  the answer to every question. So often, the best and most courageous response is also the honest one: "I don't know."

-Erie Chapman

Days 66-67 What If?

 

“What if religion was each other?

If our practice was our life?

If prayer was our words?

What if the temple was the Earth?

If forests were our church?

If holy water - the rivers, lakes, and oceans?

What if meditation was our relationships?

If the Teacher was life?

If wisdom was knowledge?

If love was the center of our being.”

-Ganga White

                                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mandala by ~liz

Contributed by Liz Sorensen Wessel

 

Days 61-65 - What We Need Most

   

   What do you need to live your life well & truly? It is courage.

    Courage & laughter unlock Love's magic.

   I like Tennyson's language, "Come now, friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world...for my purpose holds/ To sail beyond the sunset/ and the baths/ Of all the western stars, until I die."

   It is courage that enables you to sail on when your heart loses hope. Courage enables Love, faith & hope.

   It is a lie that winning is the only thing that matters.

   When a physician friend died his obituary reported that, “He lost his battle with cancer.” This odd (& frequent) observation suggests my friend was a loser.

   Life is not a football game.

   If you die of old age can we say you lost your battle with death? If so you & I will lose.

   My friend was a caregiver. He did not “lose." His victory came from living love to life's end.

   If I die of cancer I hope no one says I “lost” my battle. I will not even have lost my life because I know I have tried - to the point of straining my potential.

   Ralph Ellison wrote that the greatest affirmation of humanity is our willingness “to persist in the face of certain defeat.”

   To face defeat & never retreat sounds foolish. But, to rest & return to trying expresses life.

   This does not always need to be a grim endeavor. Amid the high anxiety of the 1989 Superbowl quarterback Joe Montana faced fear & laughed. With a minute on the clock & his team ninety-two yards from victory Montana came into the huddle & said to his team, "Hey, John Candy is in the stands." His reference to the comedian relaxed his team & led to victory.

   Our highest moral imperative is not to succeed but to always try. You have so much more courage than you think.

   Try even if you are tired. Try especially if you fail. Try even if you are in pain from trying before. Nurture your strength. Help others.

   You can only succeed if you try. You only fail when you give up – when you do nothing, when you ignore someone you could have helped, when you live never using your gifts because you were too fearful (or unmotivated) to try.

   Persistence overcomes resistance. I would rather be a “has been” then a “never was.”

   Minton Sparks & friends are putting on a conference this summer called "Eat, Paint, Write."(https://www.eatpaintwrite.com) Do all these things with artistic intent.

   Help the poor. Try things you are not good at as well as those things where you know you can succeed. If you persist you will always prevail – even if you fail to reach your goal.

   Trying offers its own reward - that at the end of your days you can say that you strived – that you lived love to the last syllable of your life.

   In that way, you will, "sail beyond the sunset/ and the baths/ Of all the western stars," until you die.

-Erie Chapman