Broken, they need your salve, your gift of imparting hope
Without you they could not have left behind nightfall’s rope
In your heart, where love is found, they, are moved by grace
Your empathy and mercy a humble reflection of Christ’s face
Faith filled chaplain, therapist, and psychiatrist all dear to me
Your joy is confirmation love overcomes failure with remedy
Friends, my daughter, offer a place of refuge from affliction
You are the angel to the abandoned, an answer to the forsaken
Patiently you find ways for the other, to sip the living water
to mend the broken heart, stop the bleeding, to end hell’s fire
Those lost inside, cannot resist the light you suggest is outside
With their old cloak’s prison removed, shadows cannot hide
Small changes come, step follows step towards victories prize
Freedom tasted, they did not know how hard the enemy tries
to blind them from the Cross, to leave behind the empty tomb
As they emerge, they are born again for glory’s flowers bloom
Taste become savored, obstacles fall away, they feel precious
Hope a new focus, optimism appears, love forms completeness
Eloi, Eloi, My God, My God, your prayer for them is answered
Two resurrections received, human and divine, God, has heard
The day my daughter decided her career was going to be a music therapist I felt completeness in my role as her father. I began to think about other people who help others through their struggles, quite often returning them to equilibrium. As I reflected, I had a deep sense of how faith plays in each life and how the giver is also the receiver. I will likely never understand the underlying complexities of their encounters and how those that need help are drawn away from their situations, but what is obvious to me is God’s role in the tapestry.
For further reflection: Those that deeply care about the mental and spiritual health of others with Matthew 27:46