Journal of Sacred Work

Days 361-365 Last Words

[Reposted]

   Newscasters offering their epitaphs on 2020 also reference the famous who have left us. One's final words always intrigue. Ever since I was a kid I have often asked others what they would like their final words to be.   

  "As she lay dying, my mother spoke four words that changed my life," Harold Poneman shared with me forty years ago. Dr. Poneman was not only Medical Director at the first hospital I led but became a great friend. 

   "She said, 'What fools we are,'" he laughed. "She was right, don't you think?" 

   Caregivers, particularly in hospices, are often witnesses to final utterances & could write books about what they have heard. 

   But, executioners are witnesses as well because of the ritual invitation to prisoners to offer their last words. Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale used his final breaths to deliver a legendary speech to his British captors, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." 

    Michelangelo ended his life with four words, "I am still learning." Steve Jobs engaged just two, "Oh Wow." (repeated three times.) And so did Goethe, "More light."

   On his deathbed, Comedian W.C. Fields was asked why he was reading the Bible. "I'm looking for loopholes," he joked. 

   Ms. Poneman's wisdom rings in my ears when I find myself conjuring my own last words. Why would anyone care?  Nevertheless, I dreamt up my own: "I went after too much & got it." 

   I like my wife's answer better. "Thank you," she said. I would just say "thank you" because I have had so much. 

-Erie Chapman

Photograph, "Clock Without Hands" by Erie, 2015

Day 361-362 The Star of Bethlehem

The Star of Bethlehem

Spiritual traditions interpret December as the season the sun arrives late and leaves early. This greater darkness brings with it a sense of our own vulnerability. December 21^st is the longest night of the year and marks a celestial event that’s been interpreted as a possible source of the  "Star of Bethlehem" nativity story. Just as light shines in the darkness, so the star is often considered a symbol of truth, spirit and hope. The star embodies the notion of spiritual revelation in each of us.

Stars remind us of our own resilience, especially when we're feeling down. They offer reassurance of our great qualities when we need it most. The star is a symbol of great hope that can help to guide our way. Just as stars shine, they encourage us to allow ourselves to shine, too.

My friend and accomplished artist, Anne Milligan’s shared these beautiful thoughts.

Winter Solstice 2020 went out with blazing color last night, here in our pilgrimage place (off the Florida Coast). After sunset, we walked in the dark, hoping to see the star. A few people sat in beach chairs and others around a campfire. I wanted to ask each one, "Have you seen the star"? "Oh, hey, have y'all seen the star"? The lesson from all of this (for me) is that heaven has reached down to earth and earth has reached up to the heavens and we rejoice as one human family. In the dark, searching for the star, we had no thoughts of color of skin, race, religion, or "where you're from". We just sought the star. And in the searching, we discover that we ARE the star, with each individual human life being a cradle for the birth of Christ into the world. Heaven reaches down and we reach up and every living thing rejoices. No matter who you are, who you love, where you live, or how you look, you are a star, of great magnitude. You shine! You are brilliant! You are a beacon of light to the world. Yes indeed, you are. And the heavens shout all over the globe: "Amen and Amen"!  (Anne Milligan)

May we remember
When you share with me what is most important to you,
That is where listening begins.

When I show you that I hear you,
When I say your life matters,
That is where compassion begins.

When I open the door to greet you,
That is where hospitality begins.

When I venture out to bring you to shelter,
That is where love begins.

When I risk my comfort to ease your suffering,
When I act against hatred, violence, and injustice,
That is where courage begins.

When we experience the full presence of each other,
Because of our shared humanity,
Because of our differences,
That is where holy gratitude begins.

May this space be a table
that is not complete
until all are welcome.

May this table be a space of beauty
where together
we create a series of miracles, and
where all that we share is sacred. (Andree Moll)

An Indigenous Peoples’ Prayer (excerpt)

O Great Spirit of the heavens, in the day's infinite blue and amid the countless stars of the night season, remind us that you are vast, that you are beautiful and majestic beyond all of our knowing or telling, but also that you are no further from us than the tilting upwards of our heads and the raising of our eyes (Black Elk).

I am grateful for the many ways your Light shines as a beacon of hope to those in need! In this season of Love may all be abundantly blessed with a joy that warms the heart and brightens one's spirit!

 

Reflection Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel
Nativity Scene by ~liz

Sunset Photo by Anne Milligan

 

Days 355-359 - Citizens of Imagi-Nation

   When I heard this play on a word it signaled a joyful idea: Why do not all of us become full-blown citizens of a country all of us have visited: Imagi-Nation?

   Hard as 2020 has been every year disgorges its own range of suffering. Whatever infects the world outside, one place can always offer solace: Our imagination. 

   As a veteran day-dreamer I am always shocked to discover something: Most adults have given up one of their best gifts by dismissing imagination as child's play.

   The Imagi-Nation is the only country that lives entirely inside us. The passport enables crossing any border that grounds true flights of fancy.

   My childhood citizenship in Imagination's nation enabled me to watch the boring minister swinging from the chandeliers like a monkey. The stained glass windows were not static to me. Jesus smiled, laughed & once gave me a wink. 

   You knew as a child how to populate your world with made-up characters. My older sister had an imaginary friend. Adulthood kills such friends. 

   Most censor the magic they saw as children. Artists do not. Some of the pictures I make ((like the one here) are of angels-citizens of my Imagi-nation.

   Caregivers: Study the map of your imagi-nation the way you would prepare for a trip to the Orient. Consider different roads & rivers to the paradise of your longing. Travel them as you lie in bed or are stuck in traffic or just plain stuck. 

   Where attention goes, energy flows. December delivers the shortest days. Why not conjure images of light in the middle of the darkness the way the ancients did as they developed the great religions of the world. As Liz Wessel pointed out in her weekend essay, every faith puts light at the center.

   Who personifies light for you? Invite them to your Imagi-Nation. The real world has no power there. No police can arrest you. Let love rule & you will be free. 

-Erie Chapman

"Water Angel Impression #5" by Erie, 2020

Days 353-354 The Miracle of Light

For everything there is a season. With the arrival of winter’s dark sky, communities around the world look to the miracle of light as a sign of rebirth and a source of hope. We celebrate the promise of new life and recommit ourselves to the protection of everyone’s right to his or her own radiant humanity.

As December unfolds before us, we welcome in the gift of reflection. We turn toward this holiday season and search for common threads of meaning.

Hanukkah, the festival of lights, commemorates a time of miracles when the faith of the Jewish people sustained them to reclaim their holy temple and keep the light of the menorah burning for eight days.

Christmas, the celebration of Jesus' humble birth in a manger, invites us to revisit the miracle of His birth; of an unconditional Love that has come to heal the wounds of humanity.

Kwanzaa is a Swahili word that means "first" and signifies the first fruits of the harvest. From December 26 to January 1, many people of African descent in America-celebrate Kwanzaa. ... one of these is the celebration of the harvest.

Each one of you are just as much a miracle as the turning of the earth, as persistence and dedication to a faith, as the creation of each new life. We see the love you give to others, the space you create to hold one another's joys and sorrows, and the generosity and spirit you entrust to this healthcare community.

You are a miracle. This community is one of miracle-makers.

 

Adapted from a prayer by Gwen Mathews

Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel
Artwork by ~liz

Day 348-352 - A Difference-Maker Named Shannon Ripani

Everyone at the restaurant where he worked loved "Joe" & appreciated his hard work & charm. After work each day he returned to his tiny duplex apartment alone. He felt agonizingly alone when he received the diagnosis that his cancer was terminal.

Who steps into help when a dying patient with no family is suffering through his last days? Joe needed an angel on earth; one of those rare caregivers who goes above & beyond her job description to deliver Radical Loving Care™.

Nashville's Alive Hospice, one of America's finest, not only reached out to Joe but they sent him a special angel. Her name is Shannon Ripani & she, along with Alive, are the latest winners of a 2020 Servant's Heart Award from Erie Chapman Foundation. 

When Shannon visited Joe with the nurse the day after admission he was barely responsive. There was no family to help. But there was Shannon. She stopped everything to care for her new patient.

Most caregivers might have stopped there, written up the case & moved on. After futile efforts to reach distant family, she called Joe's good-hearted employer who supported Joe's transfer to a skilled nursing facility. It is tough to find a bed for a poor patient. Shannon got Joe in the next day!

Once again, like the Good Samaritan, she treated this stranger like family. She worked with the employer to secure Joe's home, kept in close touch & made it possible for her patient to die in a warm bed surrounded by caregivers.

End of story. Nope.

There was no one to pay for a funeral so Angel Shannon stepped forward once again. She contacted the employer who paid cremation costs. The restaurant not only held a gathering to remember Joe but announced the naming of their porch in his honor. But the real honoree was an invited angel named Shannon Ripani.

Alive Hospice is known for its culture of kindness. When we asked CEO Kimberly Goessele for nominations she had several. But when I asked her who she would pick she said, "Shannon. Hands down."

We agree.

Erie Chapman

Postscript: Shannon is about to be another kind of caregiver. On Friday she took maternity leave to prepare for the birth of what is sure to be a very lucky baby. 

Days 347-348 "The Work of Christmas"

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.

By Howard Thurman

 

Let us find ways to make music in the heart, this is the hope of Christmas. 

 

Shared by Liz
Artwork by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Days 341-345 "...everything I have ever learned"

   The line comes from the last half of Mary Oliver's poem, "In Blackwater Woods." If poetry's word arrangement is off-putting first read this like a paragraph: 

Every year
everything
I have ever learned

in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side

is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it
go,
to let it go.

   Letting go can be heart-breaking for caregivers. Letting go of anyone or anything loved is soul-rending because "life depends on it." That is why Oliver's lines are as bare-boned as December trees. 

   And letting go can also deliver the salvation of a sunset ("whose meaning/ none of us will ever know") ending a day that I held against my bones.

-Erie Chapman 

Photograph "December Trees" by Erie, December 6, 2020 

 

Days 339-340 Little Pieces of Light

Oh God of many names,

We feel at times now like dried-out bones.

When we look back… at this period in our lives, may we see the many pieces of light and new life that gave us hope and comfort in the bleak and weary times.

We thank you for the radiance of an evening sky full of stars… and for the faithful light of dawn that follows every turn of darkest night.

We thank you for loved ones and strangers whose inner warmth welcomes our pain and thaws and clears our path.

We thank you for your presence in our depths: protecting, guiding, reassuring, loving.

During this expectant season of Advent, we thank you for all those life-surprises that ignite hope amidst our ashes and isolation.

And, we thank you for these dark times – the unwanted companion we shun and avoid, because this pushy intruder comes with truth… and reveals hidden and sacred treasures for us to bring forth.

Together.

~Amen and Amen

 

 Author of prayer and photo unknown

Shared by Liz