Infants Remembered In Silence (IRIS) - Poems - An Affirmation of Those Who Care

An Affirmation of Those Who Care

By James Miller

I believe in people who care.
Even more, I believe in what these generous people offer others.
They bring care-giving down to its essentials:
they offer not abstract ideas, but personal attention;
not definitive answers, but reasonable assurance;
not empty platitudes, but authentic hope.
I believe the work they do is both deceptively simple
and unusually difficult
For their task is to offer those who so need it
something irreplaceable: their own humanness.
They bestow a priceless gift:
only themselves, and all of themselves.
They approach the other holding out what they have to offer:
their sensitivity, their belief, their dedication.
They bring into the open what they choose not to hide:
their honesty, their woundedness, their compassion.
What these empathetic people do requires real courage,
for they do not know how they will be received,
or if they will be understood.
What they give requires great perseverance,
for healing is a time-consuming process,
and staying with others in their pain
is an energy-draining experience.
But if these souls did not perform their roles in the way they do,
then in a very real sense the Word would not be made flesh.
The Love would not be made genuine.
Yet because such committed caregivers are among us,
we know the world is not just a better place
but ours is a better time and we are better people.
We know that because those who truly care show us,
day after day.

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