Journal of Sacred Work

Automatic Legacies - Days 177-181

   Whether or not you wish it, your life will leave its legacy.

   As I watch friends retire I know that the vast majority will leave a great legacy. Especially the caregivers.

   A given nurse, therapist or housekeeper touches many lives a day. Not just their patient but families, fellow caregivers, visitors and the family they return to after work. 

   We cannot control what anyone says about us; at work, or anywhere else. There are even debates about how much of our behavior we "control."

   What Marc Antony says in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is true of all, especially the famous. “The evil that men [sic] do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” 

   On CBS Sunday Morning, Paul Simon was asked about his legacy. "I don't care," he answered. Perhaps, he understood he could not control it. But the correspondent followed up: "What about your music?"

   "The music has its own life," Simon continued. "If it lives on, it was meant to. If not, well, it's out of my control."

   Whether our legacies last years or seconds we want, like Simon, to be able to say that our "music", our presence in this world, enriched the lives of others. That is why career caregivers are so far ahead of the rest of us.

-Erie Chapman

Photo by By Matthew Straubmuller (imatty35) Wikipedia

 

 

 

In Loving Remembrance Days 175-176

 

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

 Yesterday, we gathered to mourn the loss of one so true, Patricia (McCarthy) Zimmer, October 29, 1954-June 11, 2023. Patty was someone who profoundly touched the lives of countless people in her personal relationships and as a professional nurse. We gathered for prayer, strengthened in a bond of family, friendship, love and community. After a beautiful service, we gathered at Patty’s favorite Irish pub to celebrate her beautiful essence, as loved ones shared tender stories, all affirming the significant impact of her generosity of spirit, strength of character, healing touch and endearing quirkiness.

Although, she experienced significant health issues, she never complained, or sought sympathy, nor did she let it slow her down. Patty persevered and rose above adversity; such was her passion to live and love fully. Patty recently shared, “All good, still so grateful for my life and I would not trade it with anyone. Love my life, crosses and all."

Patty’s deep abiding faith seemed to buoy her with a powerhouse of positive energy fueled by her extraordinary spirit, and love for her family, friends, heritage, and her beloved Ireland. A Love that enabled her to show up and be there for others with thoughtful gestures so distinctive of her kind and thoughtful nature. For Patty never met a stranger, she had a spirit of warm hospitality that knew no bounds.

I fondly recall a peak life experience when I accompanied Patty on a trip to Ireland to visit her family’s beautiful home town of Bantry.  There I met family members, her friends and experienced Irish hospitality at its best. Often gathered around the small living room fireplace to share in a cozy warm glow, with tea, sandwiches and good company.

We also journeyed to County Kilkenny to meet my grandmothers family for the first time.  Patty made a point to stop at every church along the way!  My dear relatives greeted us with a very warm welcome. We shared family stories, looked at photos, and visited where my grandmother grew up, all a part of an unforgettable dream come true!

When I recall memories of Patty's 40+ years of friendship, the writings of the late John O’ Donohue come to mind. Especially, the Celtic tradition of soul love which 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 explains, “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 our 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.” Although Patty is no longer with us on this earthly realm, and we feel a sense of separation and grief, the high energy of her spirit of good will remains as a constant reminder of how to live your best life. Patty reached out her hand to all she encountered to discover that there were no strangers only Love, only the hand of God.

A love that expands outward in beautiful and unforeseen ways as it continues to “transform our way of being in the world.”
 

In loving Remembrance,
Liz Sorensen Wessel

Photo, stained glass window taken in one of the many churches we visited. 

 

 

Good News! Days 172-174

   Twenty years after its broadcast I decided to update the Foundation's iconic film "Sacred Work", post it on our YouTube Channel, and submit it for recognition to film festivals. We are pleased to announce that a London festival announced today the recognition of "Sacred Work" as 2023's "Best Short Documentary."

   The award matters because it honors caregivers!

   What does a real hospital's 2002 truth look like in 2023 ? Seeking inspiration today? Even doctors shed tears watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bO_Ul2FlFw

   Using the documentary approach, the film's "stars" are actual patients and caregivers shown experiencing the continuous work of healing. The film was created in-house to highlight our New Healing Hospital™. Van Grafton delivered superb cinematography and editing as did Andrew Haege. 

  Leaders ask me, What advances loving culture? Documentaries help. Yet, most leaders fear the truth and order sycophantic ad agencies to produce phony pieces where every caregiver smiles and tells the world "We're the best." Only the "boss" is fooled.

   What message matters? Honest portrayals of caregiving that mix groans of suffering with a newborn baby's cry are what proves that Radical Loving Care^® matters. 

-Erie Chapman 

Nourishing Our Roots Days 168-171

We use our God given Gifts to provide loving care such as the gift of presence one gives in a family or hospice setting, a hospice or the gift of management when one handles someone's business affairs. Or when a busy nurse offers her gift of compassion in taking a shift for her colleague who is facing an illness. Or when a hospital administrator uses her gift of socializing and performs a day working in every department to demonstrate their commitment to knowing what their staff face.

All of us caregivers have deep roots, from our ancestors who traveled on arduous journeys to escape religious or political persecution and from whom we acquired our being. We are divinely rooted in the caring attributes of those ancestors as we provide loving care to patients, clients, colleagues, family, friends, and even acquaintances.

 But there is another metaphor at work; like plants, trees, and all the family of our human species, we require regular "care and feeding" to continue on successfully.

We need nourishment to sustain our growth and perform our sacred work over time. Without enough self nourishment, our quality of care drops, slowly at first but eventually becomes too much of a burden to continue.

The result is that not one but two persons are not cared for properly. We all find countless reasons to not nourish ourselves, from time constraints to quilt feelings whenever we seek self help or ask others to help sustain our mission of caring.

What to do? Schedule quiet alone time for yourself using the same calendar as you use for work or volunteer activities and you will find the time to help yourself. Try short meditations and add time to your sessions.

Also ask others to help you sustain your ministry of caring. Call on family, colleagues, close friends or community agencies to share your load.

"Physician, heal thyself" just makes good common sense. You must decide to care better for yourself as no one else will. Large oaks from little acorns grow and like a solitary tree, stand up tall and healthy and check your caring schedule often to detect changes needed.

Proper self care has worked for me in my professional work in education and recreation management and in directing VA hospital volunteer programs in New York and Missouri and had also kept my retirement of over 24 years vibrant and fulfilling and can help you too.

by Terry Chapman 

Thrilling Portrayals of a "Servant's Heart"

 He was a long shot for medical school. How did he get in?

   "The thing that caught my eye was a line from his college advisor: "Roderick has a servant's heart," he wrote. "Beyond his basic qualifications, that's what mattered," Keith Hagan, M.D., told me. Keith was on the admissions committee.

   What is a Servant's Heart? This video offers the best response. If you want to encourage yourself and FELLOW caregivers CLICK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twl_IBGlAVU

   A Servant's Heart is one of three keys in Radical Loving Care^® (the others are The Golden Thread and Sacred Work.)

   Because of Dr. Hagan, Roderick got in. "Roderick made the best of his chance and became a first class internist," Keith smiled. 

   All caregivers are evaluated for outcomes. What is often overlooked matters most: Does the caregiver have a servant's heart? Healing Hospital Certification™ awarded by Erie Chapman Foundation requires that each leader answer that "yes" before they hire anyone.

   A Servant's Heart enables healing beyond curing. 

-Erie Chapman 

www.eriechapmanfoundation.net 

250,000 "Visitors" to Journal of Sacred Work!

    "Hey Erie, why don't you start a weblog?" The question came from Rollie Mains, a friend and former colleague at the Baptist Healing Trust. It was spring, 2006.

   "What's a weblog?" I asked. We forget how uncommon a "blog" was back then. 

   On June 7, 2006, the "blog" appeared with an announcement and my first column, "A Mountain Lake Experience." Since then, over 250,000 of what are called "specific visitors"* (versus "page views) have come to the Journal of Sacred Work to read the over 2500 columns posted.

   Over 12,000 comments have been posted. Who was among the very first three visitors? You guessed it. Liz Wessel! My dear co-writer, who will hopefully continue to write and edit the Journal when I am no longer able to do so, became regular weekend columnist and has contributed eloquently and artistically to the energy and quality of the foundation's enterprise. 

   And other guest contributors have helped us including Dr. Terry Chapman, spoken word artist Minton Sparks, and former Alive Hospice Sr. VP Karen York and former Healing Trust leader Cathy Self. Thank you. 

  When I left BHT (now The Healing Trust), the blog and all of our Radical Loving Care materials to Erie Chapman Foundation. It resides there today and will hopefully continue in perpetuity. 

   Most readers, we hope, have found in the Journal what we seek to offer, support for caregivers around the world. In any case, THANK YOU, to all 250,000 of you!

   Live Love Not Fear,

-Erie Chapman

*specific visitors denotes individual readers who have come to the Journal. 

Bone on Bone - What Does ABC NEWS "Revolution at Work" Tell Us TODAY? - Days 155-159

Maria Popova's comments in her must-read weblog The Marginalian reignite our profoundest conundrum: “The hardest thing in life isn’t getting what we want, isn’t even knowing what we want, but knowing what to want."

Why is the 1994 ABC News Special, "Revolution at Work," so riveting in 1994? It shows us what we want at work. This clip says everything: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe1Ea6-aGns

We all seek a workplace flooded with meaning, joy and connection like the one documented by ABC. Thirty years later such a workplace remains not only uncommon but even rarer!

Why? 

The brilliant Popova offers this: "We think we want connection, but as soon as contact reaches deeper than the skin of being, we recoil with the terror of vulnerability."

Creating a meaningful workplace requires risking vulnerability! "There is no place more difficult to show up than where marrow meets marrow," Popova continues. "And yet that is the only place where two people earn the right to use the word 'love.’

Since most healthcare CEOs I know hate the word "love" in work settings (thus forfeiting the right to use it anywhere) they recoil at living "where marrow meets marrow." Yet the caregivers they lead work there every day! 

If hospital and hospice leaders truly seek mission fulfillment, the only path is the one offered in "Revolution at Work."

-Erie Chapman

Screenshot: Erie with Renee Speelman, R.N.

In the heartlands of our lives Days 153-154

The Story Teller

 At the heart of every story there lives a story teller.

Listen in to your heart

as a child listens to her favorite story –

anticipating every word

carried by every emotion

wide open to surprise

and you will hear the Story Teller

telling your story.

“Once upon a time”

Begins a timeless story

In the heartlands of our lives

Where there is room for all of us

To nestle into our Creator God

who loves stories.

Author Unknown

A copy of this little poem has been in my possession for years, passed along to me from a  friend. This week it has been open on my desk where I have read it more than once.

What flashed before my eyes today was the opening of the movie Princess Bride, as a tender scene unfolds between a grandfather and his grandson who is home from school, sick with a cold. The boy is in bed and his grandfather begins to read him a story. The relationship and dialogue between the two of them is priceless.The story opens into to an action-packed fantasy of adventure and comedy in a quest for finding true love. It’s a classic and one of my all-time favorite movies.

It reminds me of the power of story, how we get carried away into an-other world of characters who draw us in to the story's unfolding.

Well, my story today is not nearly as entertaining but afforded an experience that lingers in my heart and mind. Recently, an opportunity presented for a day of service volunteering at a local community garden. I spread the word and a few colleagues responded and joined in the fun. This event was sponsored by the Sisters of St Joseph Justice Center whose mission is, “We listen and articulate the social justice concerns of the “dear neighbor” to energize and empower people to be agents of change through advocacy, consciousness raising, prayer, action, and direct services.”

The day was alive with birdsong, flowers blossoming,  and everyone in good spirits overflowing in friendliness. It felt great being outdoors as the volunteers shared about their collaborative efforts for the common good of the community. We went to work harvesting vegetables, tilling soil, planting, fertilizing, and adding to the compost pile. It was great fun to be together in the sunshine sharing in a common goal.

This felt so healing after the long dry spell of living through the pandemic and the after effects of so much isolation. My spirit was lifted and I find myself laughing more, especially about my foibles. It feels good to laugh.

Research shows (Duke University sessions n resilience) that helping others provides lasting feelings of well-being, significantly more than doing something good for one self (although self-care is important too).  This was not my motivation, rather I am on a quest to experience love in action in simple yet profound ways. I left with the warmth of belonging and a sense of connectedness with our dear neighbors and gratitude.

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Note: The Princess Bride: The grandfather was played by Peter Falk and his young grandson, played by Fred Savage.

OVER 5000 SIGNATURES! Has the Tide Turned to "Keep Alive ALIVE?

   Thousands of citizens in and around Nashville, Tennessee, are fired up. Why? It is a community and national issue. Which is best, non-profit or for-profit hospice care? 

   See success in Alive's non-profit model (currently at risk of flipping to for-profit) by glimpsing the classic 2008 documentary, "A Place Called Alive" now online. Listen to the voices of profoundly committed caregivers under the leadership, at the time, of Jan Jones. HERE IS THE LINK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfyjiSijTIY

   Over 5000 have voted to KEEP ALIVE HOSPICE NOT FOR PROFIT.  Wherever you live, you can sign this petition.

   The first five thousand signers agree with a recent Rand Corporation study offering proof that non-profit models give better care. Erie Chapman Foundation's board also believes that Radical Loving Care^® is more likely to be practiced in charity models developed for the primary purpose of serving the suffering. We gave thousands to Alive. The nearby Christy-Houston Foundation gave millions and wants their money back if Alive goes for profit. 

   Meanwhile, the leadership of Alive Hospice, apparently including current CEO Kimberly Goessele, keep actively considering whether to sell the beloved community asset called "Alive," founded in 1975 by Drs. David Barton and the late John Flexner as America's third hospice! The group, "Keep Alive alive" has called for Ms. Goessele's resignation. 

   Neither the board members nor the CEO own "Alive." At least not now. 

   The national trend is disturbing. Non-profit health care, including hospices, are at risk from sometimes predatory corporations. If you believe in Radical Loving Care^® please join this effort by signing Denise Alper's petition. 

https://www.change.org/p/keep-alive-hospice-not-for-profit/u/31576345

Thank you,

Erie

Photo/Screen Capture of Jan Jones from "A Place Called Alive" (2008)