The Helpers

We are the people that help others.
We help you.
We provide you counsel.
We minister to you.
We serve you food when you would otherwise go hungry.
We give you advice.
We are the ones that you come to when you have questions, need guidance, wisdom, or encouragement.
We are strong for you, and even when we don't have all the answers, we always manage to find an answer of some sort.

We speak of having gone through the same afflictions.
We speak of having endured.
And while this is true, the moment we are finished having endured, we are back to being those that fix,
back to being strong for those that need us, that need our wisdom, gleaned from our experience, to lead and encourage them through their struggles.

We are strong, so we tell ourselves.
We are strong for those that need us, we whisper to ourselves.

And yet, we rarely allow someone else to see us in our weaknesses.
We rarely allow someone else to be strong for us.
We are supposed to be the strength and to have all the answers, (so we tell ourselves),
and to encounter our own weakness is crippling, embarrassing, and shameful to us.
For we are the healers, the helpers, the wise.
We are the strong, the encouraging, the counselors.
We are here for you, and deem ourselves selfish for needing another.

Yet, you are the strength, you that have leaned on us. Yes, we have been strong for you and helped you through difficult times, but you are the ones who have been brave enough to invite someone into your struggle. You have been you, transparent and raw, open to being seen, honest about your humanity, and ever so beautiful because of it. You have struggled and wept openly, and not attempted to be greater than you need to be in the moment. You have been humbled and softened, wise to the fact that we all fall and stumble, that we all have needs and weaknesses. You are wise to the fact that we are better in community than on our own, especially when it comes to trials and difficulties.

So thank you, for the strength you demonstrate.
Thank you for being strong for us, in a way that teaches us, and allows our hearts more able to experience community, and intimacy with others.
Thank you for teaching us what it means to be strong, to be humble, and to be human.