Journal of Sacred Work

Days 314-318 – Life & Death in a Single Building

1st birthday   Candlelight illuminates the face of the magic-filled child & his equally enchanted sister. And he will not remember this first of his birthdays.

 "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting," Wordswroth wrote in Intimations of Immortality. "The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star."

  Bathing in the glow of the single flame we assume this one-year-old recalls nothing about his short past & less about the life ahead or the death that will one day spirit him from this world to the next.

   Still, as Wordsworth also observed, "Heaven lies about us in our infancy!" Perhaps babies know more than we think.

   The candle of life burns in the smallest child & remains until life's last moments when, many believe, we enter eternal light.

   What fascinated me about my decades leading hospitals was the continuum of life within a single building. For example, during my tenure as CEO of Baptist, Nashville's largest hospital, seventeen new lives entered the world each day & two ended their earthly journey.

   Babies were spending their first day ever with us. The dying, their last. 

   In between were all other patients in various states of deep need. Broken, they came to us for healing & relief. 

   What work could be more sacred?

   This is the drama of caregiving. It is also where holiness resides.

   It would be well if hospital caregivers honored arrivals & passings with ceremonies that exceed medical protocols. Rituals elevate everyday work.  

   Everything depends upon our ability to be fully present to life. The rituals of birth & death & the moments of agony caregivers attend are always important &, in spite of their frequency, never to be taken for granted.

   The gift to those who practice Radical Loving Care is that each moment holds meaning.

-Erie Chapman 

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9 responses to “Days 314-318 – Life & Death in a Single Building”

  1. ~liz Avatar
    ~liz

    I was thinking about recent family events this past weekend. The week my mother died, Sofia my great niece was born. The day we buried my mom was the day she came to greet our world. Her birth in a time of great sadness was such a blessing to our family, a gift of new life and of hope.
    I love your idea of ceremonies in healthcare to honor and affirm a person’s life. It can be as simple as a moment of silence, a blessing or a prayer offered in gratitude. Thank you for today’s blessing, Erie.

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  2. Erie Chapman Foundation Avatar
    Erie Chapman Foundation

    Yes, Liz. Great comment also about moments of ceremonies. Maybe YOU can incorporate that with your team??

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  3. Diana Gallaher Avatar
    Diana Gallaher

    I was at the bedside of my dying aunt late Saturday afternoon. She died yesterday,Sunday, morning. Your post reminds me of when my uncle Buster died at Baptist Hospital. The family gathered for last rites, with the pastor reading the liturgy, around his hospital bed. Then life support was removed. I realize now that when my mother was dying I didn’t even think about asking the pastor to read last rites. Rituals do help. It is all holy, with or without the ritual. But the ancient words and actions help to affirm the sanctity of it all.
    I will tell you that yesterday morning I was out on the land with my dogs. (I have a new little girl dog. Her name is Shekinna.) Shekinna and I stopped and sat down on a rock in the middle of a field. I noticed a big bird in a tree across the field. It took flight and so I could see it was a red tailed hawk. We watched her fly so beautifully. I thought that I wanted my aunt Gladys to fly like that and knew that she would be soon. Then I wondered if she already was, and the hawk was a sign. The hawk flew higher and higher. I looked away just for an instant and when I looked back, she was nowhere to be seen. Was it a sign? I don’t know for sure. My aunt died within minutes of that time, from what my cousin told me. The memory of the soaring hawk will stay with me, whether it was a sign or not – and it brings me comfort. The universe is magical, as you know so well.

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  4. Erie Chapman Foundation Avatar
    Erie Chapman Foundation

    What a beautiful reflection, Diana. The hawk was a sign because you were able to recognize it as such. So sorry about your aunt. What a gift that she had YOU as her niece. So happy you have Shekinna in your life.

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  5. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Erie: thank you for seeing the other aspects of the work of caregivers besides the basic physical care. To quote your words “the gift to those who practice Radical Loving Care is that each moment holds meaning and it is also where holiness resides”. I treasure the above words and I am sure the hard working nurses do. Sbeng

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  6. ~liz Avatar
    ~liz

    Thank you, Diana for sharing this beautiful image of the hawk flying above and the lovely synchronicity of your aunt’s release and her spirit soaring. A loving intention for sure.
    Sincere condolences to you and your family, Diana and blessings upon you and your new found friend Shekinna.

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  7. Erie Chapman Foundation Avatar
    Erie Chapman Foundation

    Thank you so much, Suan. You must be a spectacular caregiver!

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  8. ~liz Avatar
    ~liz

    I have been reflecting upon this all week and how I might accomplish this. I will do my best to incorporate this practice, Erie as I can see its value.

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  9. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Erie: Thanks Erie for your comment. By the Grace of God I have put my best effort into this profession and have tried my level best to be one. Sbeng

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