Journal of Sacred Work

Erie Chapman Foundation

  • Days 193-194 You Tell Me…

    We’ve all heard the riddles, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Still, I was startled to encounter a rooster actually walking across a four-lane road. I watched with trepidation mixed with awe. Perhaps because it was a Sunday afternoon,… Continue reading

  • Days 188-192 – How Is Your Bandwidth?

    Our current crises may include our rising inability to listen unless it fits our agenda. Men are notoriously bad. Continue reading

  • Military Service as Caregiving

    Note: Guest reflection by Terry Chapman: Last May, my son Daniel and I traveled by train to Gettysburg and Antietam Battlefields in PA and MD. The photo shows me saluting my 2nd Great Uncle Degrasse S. Chapman, who was killed… Continue reading

  • Days 181-185 – How Can We Make a Passing Precious?

    Although a life’s meaning is not defined by funeral orations it is surely a time when Love calls us to go beyond mere cliches. If you cannot write, paint a picture honoring the deceased, create a dance, assemble a scrapbook,… Continue reading

  • Days 175-178 – The Atmosphere in the Room

    When a single small child enters a room smiling, everyone feels better. What happens when a caregiver enters a room? Does a patient’s energy rise or fall? What occurs in the meeting room when a leader enters? What is the… Continue reading

  • Days 173-174 Do Not Lose Heart

    "I believe in the sun, even when it rains." ~Anne Frank There are so many troubling occurrences in the world today, locally, in communities, in our nation and globally. The universe is filled with polar opposites that ultimately make up… Continue reading

  • Days 165-166 Like Father, Like Sons!

    Note: Guest reflection by Terry Chapman. It has been said many times that “so goes the father, so goes the son”, and in my lifetime this has held true.  My father passed on to me the steady and non-judgmental love… Continue reading

  • Days 160-164 – City of God, City of Man

     Every life is fraught with longing.Truth, the home of wrinkled skin & revealed secrets. Compassion, nursing the starving at her breasts. Love, finally freeing the artist’s hand & liberating arias from the poet’s heart. Only these three swim us close… Continue reading

  • Days 153-157 – Are We Awake?

    George MacDonald (b.1824) warned, “We must wake our souls unnumbered times a day.” The key word is “souls.” Our soul can tell us how to spend our time. Mine tells me to create. Each day Love hands me what the camera… Continue reading

  • Days 139-140 Pause to Honor and Remember

    "Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay, but we can honor their sacrifice." — Barack Obama As I constructed this collage, I looked at several war photos, which was a somber, poignant… Continue reading