Days 21-24 – “A Blessing of Angels”

[Note: Erie Chapman is retiring from the Baptist Healing Trust. The Journal will continue as an independent publication with Rev. Chapman as editor.]

May the Angels in their beauty bless you,/ May they turn toward you streams of blessings. – John O'Donohue

John O'Donohue's prayers read like poems and his poems read like prayers. His book of blessings, called To Bless the Space Between Us, is now something I turn to often.

I recommend this book to all caregivers because this man's words can be so very healing to those whose gifts of Love may have temporarily exhausted them. Self-care is such an crucial aspect of caregiving. O'Donohue offers relief that flows like this: "May the Angel of Healing turn your wounds/into sources of refreshment."

How can wounds be "sources of refreshment?" The very idea provokes a wave of reflection. Haven't we all, to our surprise, found that so much of our pain can ultimately be a blessing that refreshes?

"May the Angel of Wildness disturb the places/ Where your life is domesticated and safe," O'Donohue writes. This is the kind of provocative prayer that can wake us from our slumber in the status quo, open our hearts.

O'Donohue's words, if we can hear them with our hearts, can give us the courage to enter exotic lands of Love we may have once thought too much for us. This is what Mother Theresa did. This is what Martin Luther King did.

In fact, it is the Angel of Wildness that calls to me each day, warning me to use all of my gifts before the Christmas of my life is over. Is it possible to be a loving caregiver without risking our hearts? I don't think so. Love calls us not so much to wildness as to courageous love.

What the world offers is the appearance of safe pathways that are marked with signs and rules. What God offers is a pathway to helping others that may call us to sometimes break the rules as Jesus did – to love others no matter what the Romans commanded.

-Rev. Erie Chapman

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Categories: Reflections, Holidays, Spirituality

Tags: angels, blessings, caregivers, Erie Chapman, healing, John O’Donohue, Love, refreshment

6 responses to “Days 21-24 – “A Blessing of Angels””

Sue Staley

January 22, 2010 at 8:24 am

In my life I roll like a stone. I go where God wants me to be.When I am ready he puts me where someone is praying the loudest for me to be.It is not always something I want to do. But a lesson is learned and when someone is down, Love and caring help them through. It also helps when they feel confident in their care and that the best is being done.KxBxeun

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~liz Wessel

January 22, 2010 at 9:29 am

I have two of O’Donohue’s books but I have yet to read this one, I appreciate the insights you offer and the recommendation. Yesterday, I responded to “can any manager pick up this call” over the intercom. On the other end of the phone was a distraught daughter who was having problems getting the right urostomy supplies that were desperately needed for her father’s care. I went to Ryan in supplies for help. He responded in just the way I hoped. He said, “I am going to get in trouble for this but I’ll order the supplies from a local vendor, this will be a lot more expensive but she will have them by morning. It was a good feeling to be able to call her back and reassure her that what she needed was on the way. This is a small example of what you speak of but to this daughter and her dad it was huge.
The only thing worthy of you is compassion –
invincible, limitless, unconditional.
Hatred will never let you face
the beast in man.
One day, when you face this beast alone,
with your courage intact, your eyes kind,
untroubled
(even as no one sees them),
out of your smile
will bloom a flower.
And those who love you
will behold you
across ten thousand worlds of birth and dying.
Alone again,
I will go on with bent head,
knowing that love has become eternal.
On the long, rough road,
the sun and the moon
will continue to shine.
~Thich Nhat Hanh – 1965

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Carolyn Olney

January 22, 2010 at 7:30 pm

Sometimes family caregivers don’t have the space in which to sit back and reflect. But when actions such as Liz shared about Ryan come into our midst, we are grateful. And those moments of gratitude keep us going.

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Marie Ma

January 24, 2010 at 3:39 pm

Love and caring incorporates risk taking. When we care for others and are true,soulful,loving caregivers,,a piece of ourselves is given to the ones we care for.
That is why it is so important to replenish the soul,,,with enriched nourishment so we may enable fruitful and purposeful caregiving on a continuing basis,,the secret is to “lend” yourself with the giving of your true being,,,Not giving yourself away,,leaving you tired, exhausted and less able to provide the nurturing needed to help others.
I find it amazing how caregivers,,like people helping in Haiti,,keep going with all the strife and sorrow and death surrounding them..I believe that sort of strength can only come from our loving God.
Spiritual replenishment is essential for all caregivers.
Thank you,,Liz,,,for the quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh..it certainly speaks volumes,,

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Maureen McDermott

January 26, 2010 at 4:55 pm

Care-giving is so precious, especially for the receivers. Thanks Liz for your story – compassion in action – and I guess that’s what compassion is – action, a verb. May we strive to live lives of compassion by the way we love, care, extend forgiveness, touch, listen, engage and embrace. May each of us experience our God of Compassion reaching out to each of us with this same creative and sustaining love.

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Loralee Dulany

February 11, 2012 at 2:27 pm

One of the tougher aspects of caregiving is finding room to take care of oneself. It can be problematic, caring so much for the patient that it leaves your body and mind no room for rest. As much as possible, you have to give time to yourself to rest, and heal up so that you’ll have the energy to continue your line of work with vigor.

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