Journal of Sacred Work

Days 213-217 - Portals to Paradise?

    One day in 1565 the great Dutch painter Pieter Bruegel put down his brush & pronounced his masterpiece, "The Harvesters" complete. 

   The Metropolitan Museum of Art declares it "a “watershed in the history of Western art” & the “first modern landscape.”

   Since the Met has lifted copyright restrictions I have taken massive liberties with the original painting to make my own statement - to use Bruegel's work to create a portal.

   Open the door of the original painting and you receive a lovely tour through a 16th century Dutch countryside made to look paradisal by the master.

   Look at my variation and you will find an actual door through which you may travel where you wish. I also added other figures as guides. To create the sense that paradise is always off in the distance & that daily work can seem gray I subtracted the foreground color leaving behind only a few hints of light for those with open eyes.

   The world we occupy is one we will soon leave. Meanwhile, I fancy finding secret doors here & there, walking through them & experiencing briefly what paradise offers eternally. 

-Erie Chapman

Photoart: "Variations on a Bruegel" 2018 by Erie 

Days 211-212 A Holy Hallelujah

Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.” -Herman Hesse

A mighty tree is as welcoming as a treasured friend, offering shade and inviting us to relax and breathe in natures goodness.  When we surrender our scurrying, to accomplish those "oh so important tasks", space opens for us to right ourselves.

Permission is what a mighty tree offers… and many hidden gifts, cleansing the air we breathe, sharing the lap of our Mother to rest upon, whispering with a gentle sway what we all hope to know, give and receive.

Appealing to playfulness, trees beckon children to swing from limbs, create lookout towers and build secret fortresses in the sky.

Holders of ancient sacred stories, trees carry a wealth of history passed on through the ages. To this day, people share their hopes and dreams in prayers written upon ribbons and tied to  her branches, offered in a Holy hallelujah or plea for help when in the depths of despair.

Siddhartha comes to mind, a young man who refused to be shielded from human suffering  and received the wisdom of enlightenment as he sat under a Bodhi tree.  

There is magnificent beauty revealed in the essence of a tree, although seemingly separate, we too are joined by the root of our being; in Love.

Liz Sorensen Wessel 
Watercolor by ~liz

Days 206-210 - The Leaders #1 Job

   The announcement blared twice over the PA system: "Code Blue - Room 4014!" I rose from my chair & started down the hall. Thirty-one & a brand new hospital leader I should be helping.

   By doing what? I was trained as a trial lawyer not as a doctor or nurse. 

   Back in my office, shielded (as leaders can choose to be) from the suffering of the sick & wounded, I wondered about my new role & yearned to be back in the courtrooms where I had practiced my profession for seven years.

   That afternoon I studied an ER nurse tending to an accident victim. Again, I could only watch.

   "You took great care of that patient," I told the tired nurse later. "I am impressed." 

   "Wow," she said glancing at my badge, "that's the first compliment I've gotten from any leader in months. I feel a whole new energy," she smiled.

   That nurse accidentally taught the lesson every leader should practice. Employees are the leader's "clients." Leaders impact patient care by how they treat their clients. 

  Forty-three years later, that lesson is my key teaching: The leader's most important job is to take care of the people who take care of people. 

  -Erie Chapman  

"Sacred Work" art by Liz Wessel

Days 204-205 Life Is...

 

  The home is the most intimate setting to receive healthcare. Caregivers (clinicians; we are all caregivers, one to another) who go into a person’s home to provide care, enter as stranger and quickly become relied upon as a trusted support to the person in need.

 Increasingly elderly people lack the necessary support to live safely at home. When caregivers experience moral distress due to extremely difficult patient circumstances they reach out for help and guidance.

Often there are no easy answers.

It is astonishing to witness what people will endure rather than relinquish their independence.

Chaos accompanies change.

Dramas unfold in daily life. What character do we play in our stories? Are we the hero or scoundrel, an angel or fiend, generous or stingy, kind or uncaring, victim or attacker, a good Samaritan or would we rather cross to the other side of the road?

Dedicated caregivers go to great lengths to be of help.

I know many stories of caregivers going above and beyond to respond to people in dire need, often at their own expense; giving of their time, energy and personal resources. Yet, these kind gestures provide only temporary relief because they do not address systemic issues.

The heart wrenching dilemma is when we reach a crossroad and have to ask ourselves; is our limited support enabling an unsafe situation or do we walk away and risk abandonment?

People have the right to self- determination. 

We strive to accompany the most vulnerable, to do what is right, to honor human dignity and offer compassion to the person in need rather than avert our eyes and cross to the other side.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
                                                                                            ~Maya Angelou

Liz Sorensen Wessel 
Watercolor by ~liz

Days 199-203 The Wild Soul

"Be wild, O my soul, for the Source of Wonder, let me not forget all your care." -Rev. Don Schlosser

   God's love frees our earthly spirits to "be wild" with our own love; to be drunk on Mother Nature; to care for the suffering of others as well as our own. 

   We feel most isolated when we lose touch with the beauty around us. One way Nina, a dear friend & gifted caregiver stays in touch with Love is to walk each morning  through the woods. "My soul would suffer if I couldn't be in touch with nature," she says.

   As everyone knows, the moon does not create its own light. It reflects the sun's.

    Instead of trying to create our own light, we can angle our hearts toward God & reflect Love into the world. As caregivers, we can extinguish the fears of others with our love. As lovers, we can bless those we love & bless them again by receiving their love when it is offered.

   Self care matters most when bathe in Love's light.  Bitterness shatter's our heart's mirror. Love cannot shine into a resentful heart anymore than the sun can reach the dark side of the moon.    

   Some imagine we are the masters & nature is our servant, that it is our role to redeem nature from the wilderness. Nina knows that it is we who are redeemed by nature.

   Whenever caregivers travel the paths of nature or the hallways of museums or open their ears to great music, they refresh their souls. Cleansed of fatigue's toxins they can enter the rooms of the suffering bearing gifts of compassion & competence.

   Nature & art redeem our souls. Nina knows this. Her caregiving is a full & gorgeous moon that illuminates the hearts of all who see her. Because of her wild soul she, like you, is a "source of wonder" & a true Lover.

-Rev. Erie Chapman

Revised from a July 19, 2010 essay. Photograph by erie

   God's love frees our earthly spirits to "be wild" with our own love; to be drunk on Mother Nature; to care for the suffering of others as well as our own. 

   We feel most isolated when we lose touch with the beauty around us. One way Nina, a dear friend & gifted caregiver stays in touch with Love is to walk each morning  through the woods. "My soul would suffer if I couldn't be in touch with nature," she says.

   As everyone knows, the moon does not create its own light. It reflects the sun's.

    Instead of trying to create our own light, we can angle our hearts toward God & reflect Love into the world. As caregivers, we can extinguish the fears of others with our love. As lovers, we can bless those we love & bless them again by receiving their love when it is offered.

   Self care matters most when bathe in Love's light.  Bitterness shatter's our heart's mirror. Love cannot shine into a resentful heart anymore than the sun can reach the dark side of the moon.    

   Some imagine we are the masters & nature is our servant, that it is our role to redeem nature from the wilderness. Nina knows that it is we who are redeemed by nature.

   Whenever caregivers travel the paths of nature or the hallways of museums or open their ears to great music, they refresh their souls. Cleansed of fatigue's toxins they can enter the rooms of the suffering bearing gifts of compassion & competence.

   Nature & art redeem our souls. Nina knows this. Her caregiving is a full & gorgeous moon that illuminates the hearts of all who see her. Because of her wild soul she, like you, is a "source of wonder" & a true Lover.

-Rev. Erie Chapman

Revised from a July 19, 2010 essay. Photograph by erie

   God's love frees our earthly spirits to "be wild" with our own love; to be drunk on Mother Nature; to care for the suffering of others as well as our own. 

   We feel most isolated when we lose touch with the beauty around us. One way Nina, a dear friend & gifted caregiver stays in touch with Love is to walk each morning  through the woods. "My soul would suffer if I couldn't be in touch with nature," she says.

   As everyone knows, the moon does not create its own light. It reflects the sun's.

    Instead of trying to create our own light, we can angle our hearts toward God & reflect Love into the world. As caregivers, we can extinguish the fears of others with our love. As lovers, we can bless those we love & bless them again by receiving their love when it is offered.

   Self care matters most when bathe in Love's light.  Bitterness shatter's our heart's mirror. Love cannot shine into a resentful heart anymore than the sun can reach the dark side of the moon.    

   Some imagine we are the masters & nature is our servant, that it is our role to redeem nature from the wilderness. Nina knows that it is we who are redeemed by nature.

   Whenever caregivers travel the paths of nature or the hallways of museums or open their ears to great music, they refresh their souls. Cleansed of fatigue's toxins they can enter the rooms of the suffering bearing gifts of compassion & competence.

   Nature & art redeem our souls. Nina knows this. Her caregiving is a full & gorgeous moon that illuminates the hearts of all who see her. Because of her wild soul she, like you, is a "source of wonder" & a true Lover.

-Rev. Erie Chapman

Revised from a July 19, 2010 essay. Photograph by erie

Days 97-198 You Can Make the Mountains Ring

"If you hear the song I sing
You will understand (listen!)
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at you command"

Excerpt from the song, "Get Together" by the Youngbloods

The fragility of this life reminds us of how precious our time on earth. Our minds perceive based on the lens through which we see. So much of our daily life is lived in our thoughts. Stories take shape that may seem very real but are not necessarily true.

The world is changing at an accelerated pace. I notice how various situations can throw me off kilter. I feel a little shock wave of emotion as fear grips me. I take this as a signal to slow down. Tara Brach offers a helpful acronym RAIN for this process. Recognize, Allow, Investigate (with curiosity, not judgment) and Nurture with compassion. I can re-calibrate, regain balance and make a new choice. 

 Our physicality gives an illusion that we are separate, yet in truth there is only one of us here. Being present to our inner world can change our outer world.

The question in each moment is, which story will we choose to believe and embrace. The one shaped by the lens of fear or Love?

Choose Love.

Liz Sorensen Wessel 
Watercolor by ~liz

 

Days 192-196 A Land of Oneness?

"It is easy to turn away from a stranger, the unknown other, from the faceless in a crowded sea of otherness." - Liz Wessel

   In her weekend essay (& exceptional painting) Liz Wessel answered a question that I also address here: What can we do to transform the "sea of otherness" into a land of oneness? 

   Today, millions watch children huddled in a cave in Thailand & pray for their safety. Others glance at the same group, see "otherness," & decide they are not worth prayers.

   Every day & night, caregivers are called to care for "strangers." For true healers, their is no "otherness."

   Many learned of thousands of children separated from their parents by order of our American President & labeled the innocents "a bunch of illegals." Others, including the present First Lady & her four predecessors, condemned this kidnapping.

   The line on the screen above is wrong, one of many lies told to innocent people by government agents. American law does NOT require separating children from parents who may have immigrated illegally. This was an arbitrary decision by President Trump proven by his equally arbitrary decision to unwind it. 

   Another lie came from some officials (remember how Nazi's spoke to Jews) who conned parents into releasing children by saying, "We're just taking them for a bath" & then not returning them. 

   The President relented, not from love but from political expediency. He changed his order because, as he said at a ludicrous signing ceremony,  "I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated."

   Apparently, Trump did not mind causing suffering, he just did not want to see it. Prior Presidents may have acted similarly. Thousands of Iraqi children suffered after W. Bush bombed Bagdad. He can at least claim he was blinded by false information & has a heart.

   Trump lacks one & thus suffers a disability (do some supporters also?) Consider his comments attacking George H.W. Bush. "What was it with [H.W's] thousand points of light," he jeered to a Montana crowd recently, "I never quite got that." 

   Lacking a heart, Trump could not understand. Those "points" represented compassion. 

  We think we are a country of oneness, not otherness. Our Statue of Liberty poem (by Emma Lazarus) says, "“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

   We help those "yearning to breathe free" - especially children, right? That is who we have been. That is whom we may be once again. That is not who America is right now. 

   Trump's cruel degradation of those swimming in the "crowded sea of otherness" has snuffed Liberty's light & rendered us unable to claim that we are a nation of loving caregivers for terrorized children. 

   Can we relight "the lamp beside the golden door"?

-Reverend Erie Chapman

Days 190-191 Two by Two

"The ark of peace is entered two by two." A Course in Miracles

It is easy to turn away from a stranger, the unknown other, from the faceless in a crowded sea of otherness. We may feel guarded, fearful or threatened that the other is out to do us harm or that they may want to steal what is ours.    

Yet, if we meet someone and have the opportunity to look into their face, glimpse the light in their eyes and the hopefulness of their smile, perhaps shake their hand and connect on a personal level, energy shifts and our heart naturally begins to soften.

When we listen and learn about a person’s story and life experience and bear witness to their suffering, our own humanness is reflected back to us.  Suddenly, we recognize them! Compassion for the person before us is compassion for ourselves. When we close the door of our heart to another we close the door on ourselves and we suffer. When our heart expands towards another to see their goodness we receive the gift of Love.

"The ark of peace is entered two by two." 

Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel
Watercolor by ~liz

Days 185-189 - Life was not wasted on her...

   She was one of those rare people whose presence was so dazzling that the moment my sister Ann introduced me to her dear friend I knew: Gretchen Minnhaar was unique.

   She was an Argentina-born architect who changed the face & the feeling of her adopted Grand Rapids. And she was an internationally known artist whose paintings live in homes & buildings around the world. 

   I hate using the past tense. Gretchen died suddenly June 29.

   The news of her passing is hard for Ann to absorb. The two were so close for so long: nearly five decades. She designed Ann's house & even created a work of art out of plaster in the entry hallway. Of course, her paintings hang there as well. 

   So often, our friends are our caregivers. They show up when things are tough. They let us cry on their shoulders. They help us celebrate weddings.

   Ann's & Gretchen's friendship was often healing for both. For Gretchen's husband Luis, a world renown heart surgeon, the loss is incalculable. 

   As I have written in prior Journals of Sacred Work, great artists give us Radical Loving Care. Look at how Liz Wessel's art, seen here each weekend, comforts you.

   Consider the way artists decorate our lives: They bring beauty that makes us love our eyes. Sometimes they provoke (Picasso, Max Ernst, the photoartist Man Ray) by changing how we think. Often they heal by painting what we cannot express. 

    It is not fair to say Gretchen was like Evita Peron just because both were from Argentina. But it is true that Gretchen's powerful persona put her in a league with people that are classic strivers: ones who are compelled to create (and have the talent to do so), to make things happen, to spice up our existence. 

   We can thank our lucky stars for all artists that have worked courageously (& often suffered) to venture into unknown realms to bring before us bits of the holy grail.

    Many of us squander our gifts & our time on earth. We are more unwilling than we are unable.

   Life was not wasted on Gretchen. She embraced it, drank its champagne, painted it the color of Argentina (she seemed made of color), changed a city & impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands.

   Heaven is glad to have this new resident. She is already at work decorating some new clouds. 

-Erie Chapman

Photo from online archives