Journal of Sacred Work

Days 58-59 For Love of the World

I salute you. I am your friend, and my love for you goes deep.  There is nothing I can give you which you have not. But there is much, very much, that, while I cannot give it, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant.

Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in darkness, could we but see.  And to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look!

Life is so generous a giver. But we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard. Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love by wisdom, with power. Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel’s hand that brings it to you.

Everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty, believe me, that angel’s hand is there. The gift is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence. Your joys, too, be not content with them as joys. They, too, conceal diviner gifts.

Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty beneath its covering, that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven. Courage then to claim it; that is all! But courage you have, and the knowledge that we are pilgrims together, wending through unknown country home.

By Fra Giovanni Giocondo

Note: Fra Giovanni Giocondo (c.1435–1515) was a Renaissance pioneer, accomplished as an architect, engineer, antiquary, archaeologist, classical scholar, and Franciscan friar.  Today we remember him most for his reassuring letter to Countess Allagia Aldobrandeschi on Christmas Eve, 1513.

What beautiful gifts travel through the ages to speak to us today...

Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Artwork by Liz 

 

Days 53-57 - Quandaries

   One memory you may have in your youth is when you suddenly could not recall the name of someone you knew well. That panic that sets in when you know you should know it, but you draw a blank - until you think about something else & your relaxed mind delivers the answer.

   It is a funny in your twenties. In your seventies, when the same thing happens, it brings a different kind of panic. "Am I getting Alzheimers? Is age attacking my brain?"

   Chances are, you are fine. But, bias against aging can make it hard to accept that truth - especially when younger people look at you & you know they are thinking: "Uh oh. Erie is getting old & his memory is failing."

   My theory is that a one reason healthy older people have memory problems is the huge volume of information we have collected - like a sky jammed with starling's murmuration. How many people you have met, medical words learned, books read, movies seen?

   No wonder that it becomes difficult to withdraw the right information you "know so well" from your brain's packed computer.

   Still it is a quandary. What to do?

Quandaries

We are not meant
to escape them,

not
for very long.

They are the songs
where, midway,
you forget the words & hum,

you & the band hoping
you will remember them.

If you do recall
you have a moment
to sit in the chair
that adjoins all quandaries,

rest from your quest
for a few moments at best
before the band strikes up
a tune you know
but cannot recall the words.

At least at first.

-Erie Chapman

Photograph: "Murmuration" by Erie

Days 51-52 Resilience

Resilience: noun
The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, toughness. The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.

On the eve of a huge ice storm last week, I met virtually with Oregon colleagues to plan a resilience workshop for frontline home health and hospice caregivers. The following  excerpt of a reflection is  written by a remarkable colleague. She shares her experience of  events that unfolded that evening

 “Our conversation, my heightened state of being knowing a storm was arriving and thinking about RESILIENCE led me into a night I will never forget. We live in a town built in a bit of a bowl shape and full of old trees and lovely landscape, our 1910 home is on one of the edges of the bowl, overlooking the town.”

“We had an ice storm that Friday night. Trees and power lines were weighted with the ice and what ensued was like all night fireworks with the cracking and falling of trees and exploding transformers lighting the sky. And it was a weekend to remember as the administrator on call. Cell service interrupted, nurses unable to leave their homes because of blocked driveways, power lines draped over their cars, no electricity to warm their parents or kids…patients to get covered or to ensure they are safe. You dig deep in these times to keep everyone as safe as possible.”

“We had a remarkable team working for this emergency. Traversing roadblock after roadblock, determined to find the safe way to get to the patients in need. Seeing patients in darkened Assisted Livings, picking up a patient visit for the nurse with power lines on her car. On Sunday, our nurse had a flat tire on the freeway and a Good Samaritan stopped to assess her situation. He saw her badge, she explained that she was a Home Health nurse and he said, “I’m changing your tire in thanks for your work. It is my pay back for what you do for your patients”.

“Our patients were so grateful for these super nurses doing what they do best: serving. In this case, the very vulnerable.”

It is such an honor to work alongside such Mission inspired leaders and heroic caregivers. 

Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Days 46-50 Agathokakological: The Only Word Describing Human Nature

   Until my cousin, Dr. Terry Chapman, sent me this word I had never seen it. No wonder. It is a mouthful to say & remember. But, its meaning could not be more important.

    Agathokakological means, "composed of both good and evil." Could there be any better description of human beings? Like the photo-painting, we have dual natures with countless shades in between.

   Most, but not all, of us spend our lives trying to be good. Many become geniuses at trying to justify their "evil" actions to fit "good's" ever metamorphosing definition. 

   Our former President became a self-described expert at this game by never admitting any wrong so he could claim to be the "goodest" person ever.

   Millions have trouble admitting bad behavior because of an ultimate punishment: Forfeiting their ticket to heaven. Catholics can dodge this through confession & absolution. But ya gotta join to win. 

  Because the consequence of mistakes may mean life or death committed caregivers are tougher on themselves than anyone.  

   Yes. We must sustain our quest. Can we make our campaign for goodness reasonable & reachable? 

   Shame (versus guilt) undermines Radical Loving Care™.

   Here's one great word usage online, "When any project dominates your life for a sizeable length of time...you have to accept the agathokakological nature of the beast." 

   Since caregiving can dominate our whole life it is wise to accept that no one (not even doctors) is perfect.

-Erie Chapman

Photoart: "Good & Evil" - Erie Chapman, 2021

Want to impress your friends? Here is a pronunciation guide:

Days 44-45 All Shall Be Well

 

                                                                                     

                                                                                From Love we come
                                                                   
                                                                                     From Love we come
                                                         
                                                                                            From Love we come

In Love we are enfolded 
                                                                                                   

                    In Love we are enfolded 
                           
                                            In Love we are enfolded

To Love we shall return
                                                                                         

                                                                                   To Love we shall return                                                                         

                                      To Love we shall return

Alleluia
                                        
                                     Alleluia
                                                                                         
                                                                             Alleluia

All shall be well 
                                                                         
                             All things shall be well

                                                                                                                                                                              
                                      All shall be well 

                                                               All things shall be well

                                                                                                           
                                     
All shall be well 
                                      
                                                              All things shall be well

 

Perhaps you needed to hear this as much as I did...

Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Days 39-43 The Music of Life

Your first thought might be, "Who cares about the oldest song?" A professor named Richard Dumbrill did. He joined others in recreating music from 3400 year-old scraps to give us a sense of how it sounded. (YouTube link below)

   The first lyrics are predictable - a psalm to God, love & parenthood.

   What is more compelling is that music is so inherent to our humanity that one of the first instruments (pictured) is more than 35,000 years old!

   Music is created for our hearts. Music & rhythm are the pulse of life &, like other arts, are a language more universal than words. 

   Every setting has its songs - ocean waves, forest winds & the human-made settings where we play music to relax, inspire or to make love. We know the songs American slaves sang to ease the pain of their labor, that soldiers hum marching to war, that crooners sing to nurture intimacy & that believers sing to praise God.

   What is caregiving's music? The sound change between the courtrooms where I practiced law and the hospitals where I began working in 1975 was jarring. Courtrooms are controlled & quiet. Hospitals are controlled & noisy.

   Beeping monitors, whirring machines, overhead pages & loud chatter at the nurses' station can be a nightmare for people whose sickness has made them prisoners in a cacophonous jail. 

   The machinery of medical treatment is necessary & so loud. That is the story caregivers tell in these times: "Her father died of COVID. He lay alone with a tube down his throat, a ventilator cranking & heart monitor that suddenly went flat."

   This is one reason patients & family universally love hospice care. The quiet. 

   Music is a beautiful alternative to noise. Silence is another - especially when disease overwhelms us. The quieter we can make hospital environments the more healing those settings will become.

-Erie Chapman

YouTube Link to ancient song:

Days 37-38 Spirit of Abundance

Spirit of Abundance

Spirit of Abundance, God of Grace, Mother of Hope,
We pause now to remember those stories that are all around us,
But so often passed over,
Those stories that when told are shared because
Of what someone is, not who they are.

This month in our nation's character
Is Black History month.
Help us to realize that Black history is
All our histories.

We remember the hurts of exclusion and prejudice,
but we know that you can raise our vision above all barriers
 and give us wisdom and courage to make this a better world.

May the day come when these stories
Are so wildly taught that no month need
Be separately divided.
We know this day will not come until we as a people
Make different choices.
We pray now for those new choices.

May we come to see a day where the prison system
Becomes redemptive, not punitive.
A day where the legal system learns to focus more squarely on the facts,
And the not colors of our skin.
A day where our schools are as well funded, as the needs demand.
May our role models be allowed to excel when they thrive,
And not be taken down for their rich heritage. May we come to know grace,
So that our hearts will not be hardened to the pain around us.

There are so many beautiful stories needing to be told.
And we need to get the chance to hear them.
Widen our vision so that the history that is shared this month,
And every month,
Come to be known as our history too.
We are most human when we see the humanity in others. (Author Unknown)

Here are three stories needing to be told and shared by Michelle Darrisaw who is the Culture & News Writer for OprahMag.com. Each of these creative souls were gifted in their own unique ways, and each used their creative talents to make the world a better place. 

Minnie Riperton (1947 - 1979)

Mariah Carey is heralded for her whistle register, which is the highest the human voice is capable of reaching.  Riperton perfected the singing technique years before and was best known for her  five octave range. The whistling can be heard on her biggest hit to date, “Lovin' You” The infectious ballad was originally created as an ode to her daughter, Maya Rudolph, of Bridesmaids and Saturday Night Live fame. However, before she could become a household name, she died in 1979 at the age of 31 from breast cancer.

 

 

Jane Bolin (1908 - 2007)

A pioneer in law, Jane Bolin was the first Black woman to attend Yale Law School in 1931. In 1939, she became the  first black female judge in the United States, where she served for 10 years. One of her significant contributions throughout her career was working with private employers to hire people based on their skills, as opposed to discriminating against them because of their race. She also served on the boards of the NAACP, Child Welfare League of America, and the Neighborhood Children’s Center.

 

 

Gordon Parks (1912-2006)

Parks was the first African American on the staff of  LIFE magazine, and later he would be responsible for some of the most beautiful imagery in the pages of Vogue. He also was the first Black director of a major film, Shaft, helping to shape the blaxploitation era in the '70s. Parks famously told LIFE in 1999: "I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera."

 

 

Michelle is the Culture & News Writer for OprahMag.com.

Prayer and Reflection offered by Liz Sorensen Wessel