Journal of Sacred Work

Days 258-259: The Moon Swayed

"The sky is that beautiful old parchment in which the sun and the moon keep their diary."
-Alfred Kreymborg, Old Manuscript.

In reverence of blue moon rising and memories etched in sky's delicate parchment. T’was magical, watching her rise up, when she suddenly she stopped. Breathless. She paused, resting a moment upon tree's mantle.

 A woman strolled the beach calm, sinking toes in cool sifting sand. Felt the rhythmic pull of tides, rushing in resilience only to hasten back again. In the dark of night, with not a soul in sight, the moon swayed as she danced.

As we enter into this Sabbath, nurture your soul’s moonlight.

Liz Sorensen Wessel 
Photo: Kauai, 2006 ~liz

Days 253-257 - Where is Our Soul?

  When my youngest grandson saw these twin rainbows he said, "That means there are two pots of gold!"

   Maybe more.   

   Any science teacher can explain double rainbows. None can explain why such sights (including the way the car shape mimics the rainbows) move the soul.    

   Nothing is more elusive to the mind than the soul. It is a game of hide & seek. The brain analyzes. The soul dodges capture the way any ghost eludes mortal embrace. 

   "What is precious/ inside us does not/ care to be known by the mind/ in ways that diminish/ its presence," David Whyte writes. To describe love is tantamount to death by textbook. 

   The notion that our most precious gift cannot be "figured out" is a confounding reality & a gorgeous mystery. The idea that even poets cannot define it frustrates professors & scientists alike.

   Minds ask, What is it? How does it work? The soul defies earthly inquiries.

   What should we do? Many answer by dismissing soul & spirit as nonsense. Others seek to explain thus missing Whyte's wisdom that the soul's unfathomable truth "does not/ care to be known by the mind."  Nor can it be. 

   Where, then, is our soul? It is nowhere & everywhere. In other words. The best way to appreciate our spirit is with humility.

   Our mind's assumption that intelligent analysis will "figure out" the soul is arrogance. It is akin to alleging that our eyes should see what they cannot see.

  Humility engages words like "sacred," "holy" & "mysterious." These choices hint rather than answer. 

  Want a glimpse of the soul at work? Watch someone who reaches beyond thinking to give caregiving so beautiful that it makes no sense.

Reverend Erie Chapman

"Double Rainbow" - Family Member Photo

Days 251-252 "God, Beyond All Names"

What we see depends on the lens through which we look. What do you see when you gaze upon these two images of the world?                                                                                                    

     

The first image depicts a world of countries divided by borders and separated by four different oceans. It is a world characterized by a hierarchy of power with  illusionary control over life. This majority view is based on fear, scarcity competition, and a win-lose mentality.

This powerful illustration was presented by Sr. Carol Zinn SSJ as several of us gathered together to explore what God is asking of us in this moment of time. I doubt anyone could deny that we are going through an evolutionary time in history with unprecedented rapid change.  We are experiencing shifting paradigms with a breakdown in systems that are no longer functional. Zinn observes that our structures no longer hold the relationships necessary for the common good of humankind.

Breakdowns are apparent in all aspects of our society; in healthcare, politics, education, financial institutions, and religion. This dissolution and accompanying maladaptive behaviors throughout our planet signals an urgent need for a shift in consciousness. These changing forces have created openings for new life. There is an emerging energy that is drawing us towards healing and a renewal of hope.

The second illustration reveals a world with one ocean. A world that is aligned with  a spirit of cooperation and collaboration between people. Zinn uses the symbol of a circle to illustrate that whatever happens in the circle happens to everyone because we are all in this together. This world view is based on love with mutuality, equanimity and a respect for diversity.  According to Zinn, the only way forward is in partnership with others. We need to embrace diversity because “diversity is reality.”

Although physical appearances differ, there are no differences on the level of the spirit. Zinn points out that world views are neither good or bad. They are either big or small and some may not be able to hold a new reality. Our challenge is to let go of frozen and ingrained thought patterns  and open to an expanding world. Zinn emphasizes that it will cost us everything. She provided the analogy of a sperm entering the ovum; both die to become the zygote which forms a an entirely new life.

The day we see "the other" person's well being as important as our own we will experience new life. 

"Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life." Psalm :23

Liz Sorensen Wessel

 

Days 246-250 - Whispering in God's Ear

   The humidity proves that a summer day in the south can be hotter than any place in America. A string of fountains is a natural magnet.

  Even in the picture of the cavorting children, notice that each is having her or his personal experience. 

   That is how we encounter God. What would  you speak into God's ear with the whispering voice of intimacy. Since God knows already it is our need to unburden.

   Meister Eckhart wrote, "The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me." The same is true of the sacred ear. God listens because God is Love & Love offers a continuous quiet invitation. Accept it & receive the healing that matters. 

   You cannot tell others everything. Even if another promised otherwise they would pass judgment. They must because humanity compels discernment.

   But, this is all too much. Fountains draw play, not analysis.

   Look at the solitary child experiencing laughing droplets that soothe. What is he thinking? Only God knows.

   What about the man walking by in the top left of the image? Is he secretly whispering in God's ear?

   The only thing unusual about my self-portrait amid the shower is that I, a so-called CEO, a trained trial lawyer, a business man & alleged adult have chosen to doff my business suit & wingtips to join the joy in the public fountains. To be baptized in water where children are playing.

   The children appear poor in money & rich in spirt. Perhaps, I am rich in money & poor in spirit. The water brings healing to each of us

   What else do I confess amid the energy of the fountain? I whispered it only in God's ear.                      

-Reverend Erie Chapman

Photographs by Erie

Days 244-245: Movement is Life

Recently, I was speaking to a colleague about the meaning of her work as a physical therapist and she stated, "I embrace a philosophy that 'Movement is life.'" This idea resonated as I continued to reflect upon this throughout this week.

As I left work that day, I noticed how stress had accumulated in my body. My back ached from sitting too long at the computer. The couch beckoned, "Come, rest a while, put your feet up. Ahhhh....." The longer I laid there the more achy and blah I felt. Yet, on the nights I went to yoga, to stretch and move and work tired muscles, the stress of the day was released. Yoga teaches us to coordinate our poses with the movement of our breath. As we breathe in healing energy we release our stress, anxiety and fears. Afterwards, I felt refreshed, relaxed and grateful that I gifted myself in this way.

Interestingly, we all know the benefits of exercise. As we increase our movement our mood raises, physically we feel stronger and spiritually more grounded. Movement energizes. Conversely, if we succumb to inertia the more tired we feel, our body weakens and we want to be sedentary. It is a tiresome cycle.

When I am in a groove of moving regularly I enjoy the benefits. Then some life events occurs that disrupts the routine. Now I expect it, and I just start moving again, however slowly, as momentum builds. 

Friday was the last day at the hub of our healthcare office. Monday we will arrive at a new location to begin a new chapter. It was sweet to see how colleagues took group 'selfies' and made gestures to mark the threshold; the leave taking. I realize how important it is to pause and to acknowledge what has been before moving on to new beginnings.

A team member in our little department offered a personal reflection. Five of us stood in a circle as distractions and sound whirled about us.  Quietly we listened as she spoke of the many prayers that had been offered throughout the years that we spent building our home care ministry. The prayers we prayed for patients, families, friends, and each other. The prayers we prayed for getting through difficult times as well as prayers of thanksgiving. Then she read a beautiful passage from psalms and concluded with a prayer of blessings. It was affirming, reverent and honoring of all the people that had poured their hearts and souls into their daily work. We all hugged and the movement began again. We continued packing and readied ourselves to move forward.

Movement is life.

Contributed by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Pastel drawing by ~liz 

 

Days 239-243 - Your Self Portrait

   It is one of the many fascinating "what ifs" of history. It concerns one of the greatest men of any generation.

   If Abraham Lincoln had died early in 1860 (the year of his election) he would be forgotten. His career up to that point had included his practice of law, only one term as a Congressman and a failed campaign against Stephen Douglas for Senator. 

   Every one of Lincoln's great accomplishments occurred in the single half-decade that ended with his assassination in 1865. His portrait now matters so much to us that it is etched into both the $5 bill & our hearts. 

   In an age of "selfies" (a term that can trivialize self-portraits by Rembrandt, Picasso, Frida Kahlo & Andy Warhohl) what do your "selfies" say? The question takes on a sharply different meaning if you think of other life expressions as self portraits: what you write, how you parent & how you spend your career.

   What if your portrait also reflected behaviors you regret? In an episode of the old television series "Twilight Zone" a man invites guests to put on masks that reflect his idea of their personalities. Many of the masks show hideous expressions including (as I recall) anger, snobbery, gluttony and other sins. The group scoffs at the game until at the end of the evening they are unable to remove the masks & are permanently doomed to look like their worst selves. 

   In such a game Hitler's visage might be a horror mask of blood & torture. Would Lincoln's image be crowned with light?

   Of course, each of us is light & shadow. Even compassionate faces carry pockmarks. But every loving caregiver is beautiful.

   Self-portraits become meaningful when they tell deeper truths. What do you see in your life's mirror? 

-Erie Chapman. 

Self-portrait by Erie

Days 237-238: Within The Flower

 

Within the flower there lies a seed,
Within the seed there springs a tree,
Within the tree there spreads a wood.

In the wood there burns a fire,
And in the fire there melts a stone,
Within the stone a ring of iron.

Within the ring there lies an O,
Within the O there looks an eye,
In the eye there swims a sea,

And in the sea reflected sky,
And in the sky there shines the sun,
Within the sun a bird of gold.

Within the bird there beats a heart,
And from the heart there flows a song,
And in the song there sings a word.

In the word there speaks a world,
A world of joy, a world of grief,
From joy and grief there springs my love.

Oh love, my love, there springs a world,
And on the world there shines a sun,
And in the sun there burns a fire,

Within the fire consumes my heart,
And in my heart there beats a bird,
And in the bird there wakes an eye,

Within the eye, earth, sea and sky,
Earth, sky and sea within an O
Lie like the seed within the flower.

-Kathleen Raine

 

All life begins with a seed; a thought in the mind of God.

“In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind sweeping over the waters. God said let there be light, and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3

Life's unfolding is circular and offers us continual opportunities for renewal as we grow towards love.  In Jean Vanier’s reflections about community life,  he observed, “We all carry our own deep wound, which is the wound of our loneliness. Some people think their wound of loneliness will be healed if they come into community but they will be disappointed. We have to realize that this wound of loneliness is inherent in the human condition and that we have to walk with it instead of fleeing from it. We cannot accept it until we discover that we are loved by God just as we are and that the Holy Spirit, in a mysterious way, is living at the center of the wound.”

The natural flowering of our life’s seed takes time, growth can be painfully slow. In community we can help nurture each other's growth towards love with our patience, presence and forgiveness.

Tender Words 

Tender words we spoke
to one another
are sealed
in the secret vaults of heaven.
One day like rain,
they will fall to earth
and grow green
all over the world.

                                                                                         --Rumi

 Contributed by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Days 232-236 - What Caregivers Carry

   One night when I was four, I awoke sick as a poisoned dog. A California moon reached through my bedroom window but it brought no comfort. I ran to the bathroom & threw up.

   As I leaned into the loneliness of nausea I felt a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll be okay, Chip,” my dad said. My father eased the isolation of my illness. His calming hand & voice delivered relief.

   Love's first gift came at my mother's breast. It is the gift that models all caregiving. But, one of my first recollections of feeling loved came from my father.

   When we are well we can feel bullet proof. From the height of our health, we may even condescend to the ill. When you are sick illness looks endless. In the depths of your agony, health is a distant star. 

    Our life experiences arrived in a caravan of moments. Our love for life grows from a single belief: that each day is worth living.   Caregivers carry hope.

   When you were little who cared for you in sickness? Why do you care about caregiving? Does some alcove of your memory recall a cold night when your mother stroked her warmth across your face.

   The love your first caregivers gave you was as important as any medicine. Love lived at my mother's breast & in her lap. The sheets she cleaned & tucked were ever white. She was ever young.

   As I recall my earliest days, I recollect what mattered most. It matters most today. It is love.

   We walk through time with lives on the line. When pain haunts our walk nothing seems more crucial than relief. 

   Caregivers carry love. No gift is more precious.  

-Erie Chapman

Photographs by Erie

Days 230-231: May You Walk In Softness

“There is a light in you which cannot die; whose presence is so holy that the world is sanctified because of you. All things that live bring gifts to you, and offer them in gratitude and gladness at your feet. The scent of flowers is their gift to you. The waves bow down before you, and the trees extend their arms to shield you from the heat, and lay their leaves before you on the ground that you may walk in softness, while the wind sinks to a whisper round your holy head.” ~ ACIM

A light so precious… yet obscure from our awareness by years of binding words in layer upon layer. Words that echo in judgement and criticize with an underlying message of “ you are not worthy.” How hard we work to prove otherwise, but to whom? One day we realize that no matter what we do or how much we try to accomplish it will never be enough. For at our core we know that it is not about the doing but rather our being.

A presence so Holy… what is it that we truly long for when we are hurting, lonely or afraid? The greatest gift another person can offer is their full presence. This past week a theme surfaced on the Journal; mainly that relationships are first cultivated with oneself.

If at times you find yourself overwhelmed by difficult feelings there are four simple steps in mindfulness practice that Michele Mc Donald coined as RAIN and which, Tara Brach has expanded on to include intentional kindness and compassion.  

Recognize what is going on; name it. What is happening in me right now?  Acknowledge how your thoughts, feelings or behaviors are affecting you. 

Allow the experience just as it is, notice instead of resisting or trying to escape from any unpleasant feeling. What is the felt sense? Pause in this safe and sacred space. Can I be with this? What does this part of me need?

Investigate with gentleness; be curious with an intimate intention of loving kindness. What am I believing about myself? Avoid judgment or trying to fix. Stay with the sensations in your body. You may wish to place your hand on your heart to soften with compassion and offer a kind word.

Natural awareness; do nothing. You are no longer stuck in the narrow ego identification of self.  Receive the gift that a gentle rain from heaven is providing to you. Simply rest, in a quality of presence that is open and caring, awake and tender. Rest in the blessing Light of your being. Breathe in Love and exhale fear or whatever may be keeping you from living your most beautiful life.

A softness so gentle… As with Erie Chapman's instructive wisdom offered this week, Tara Brach affirms, “In order to flower, self-compassion depends on honest, direct contact with our own vulnerability. Compassion fully blossoms when we actively offer care to ourselves.” Brach views this mindfulness practice as a helpful way to cultivate a more loving relationship with oneself and ultimately the people in our lives.

God whispers…Cultivating a relationship with oneself is not an event but a way of living and a lifelong practice. As we accept the gift of Light within us, we can in turn, offer it to others.

 “All things that live bring gifts to you, and offer them in gratitude and gladness.” ~ACIM

Contributed by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Photo by Robin: Kalibos cabbage grown in the garden of my friend Robin Ragle-Davis
Photo by ~liz of my loving grandson, Cyrus Wessel 
RAIN: If you would like to learn more go to tarabrach.com