Rent-A-Mama

So just what is a “counsellor” who lives within our midst?
A person better than ourselves for whom life has been blessed?
Or is it one who stops a while along our roads in life
And offers hand up when we fall, and salve in times of strife?

Sometimes the speed of life's too much for us to hold the pace;
Sometimes it's far too hard for us to keep up in the race;
Sometimes we just can't cope with life and what's there on our step;
Sometimes we need encouragement, some help when life's a wreck.

For life is fragile in a sense, though tough in larger frame;
The challenges it brings to us are seldom quite the same;
We can't survive when all alone nor just with other folk –
We need a balance in our lives if we’re to bear the yoke.

We each mature at pace which works for each of us they say;
It's not so much how others live that sets for us our way;
We walk our roads; we hoe our row; we choose the paths we wish;
Then take the fruit of seeds we plant, and put that in our dish.

Each person gets to choose some things (though somewhat circumscribed
By life of which we are a part, for which men lived and died);
We are a part of all we've met – our families and our homes –
No matter where we choose to go, how far from them we roam.

As we move on in life each day – a thousand choices make,
It's in that way we twist and turn and other roads we take;
When we look back from where we've come as decades pass us by,
We stand amazed at distance come, and view it with a sigh.

For past is past, yet present here, within our minds and hearts;
And present in perspective viewed is clear right from the start;
The future, what of it remains, is seen and yet unknown,
For in the choice we make today our future fruit is sown.

Life is a gamble, quite a risk, like “Superman” in flight –
We choose to harness up to wire, and hope the choice is right;
It may not be, but once we're off, it's over pretty fast,
As we look down, ahead, around, spread arms and “fly” at last.

I flew a plane long years ago, a risk I took with age;
It was a challenge I took on and inner-fears engaged;
I thought I'd fly there yesterday but we were stopped by storm,
So we proceeded to our home and snuggled down quite warm.

As I look back I wonder now about that change in course –
If we’d proceeded to that ride, would we have borne remorse?
Who knows? To second-guess each choice, it seems a futile game –
For in the end, there is an end, to each and all the same –

In four-score years and ten (or more or less, it's hard to say)
We journey on and choices make which inter-weave and sway;
It's in this way we live our lives and walk our journey out –
We make each choice – some good, some bad, and many more in doubt.

So what's a counsellor in times of ambiguity?
A person walking by our side, who sees with clarity?
A person who has love for us, who has our best in mind?
A person who will laugh with us, who's infinitely kind?

That sounds a lot like mom and dad, my aunts and uncles too,
But as they're far away from me (for one or both have moved),
They're not at hand to give support (there's lots of us like that),
So I pull out my credit card and sit down for a chat.

A hole exists within the hearts of many folks these days;
It's Mama-sized, or Papa-sized, and it affects their ways –
Until they get that hole filled up, there's emptiness inside;
And that is what a counsellor does – she evens out the ride.

When parents were the counsellors, spoke wisdom from the past,
It worked within our stable worlds, we saw such wisdom last;
But when we move away from home a new world takes its place,
And we meet challenges quite new – with choices new we're faced.

So counsellors of many stripes pop up to fill the gap;
They walk with us in our new world, with understanding chat;
They may not have all wisdom old, but hopefully are wise –
So they can help our pilgrimage and fit us for the skies.

Informed by wisdom from the past and from our present world,
They help to options clarify and center us in swirl;
They lend an ear and let us talk as we pursue our ways;
And celebrate our victories as we live out our days.

It used to be the Church did that, for centuries in fact,
But folks think God is absent since we made our transient act;
So counsellors spring up to fill the absence of support,
And think there is no God to help them in their counselling work.

But doctors stitch our cuts and scrapes, so God can heal the wound,
And counsellors do much the same so heart's restored quite soon;
We think we're strong enough to heal the souls who come to us,
But we are not – nor strong enough to make a greater muss.

For God has words for everyone and channels best for each;
Folks hear our voice and come to us requesting us to teach;
But if the mix is not of God, He shuts their ears and takes
Their hungry soul to better one, so learning can take place.

So, run with God, as counsellor, such life is quite a blast;
In Him just stay available, He'll give more than we ask;
Of course stay open to the tips and tricks some workers have,
But in the end He's Wonderful – with wisdom, guidance, salve.

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