We often best serve others through our own vulnerability, by opening up our own humanity (not by hiding behind roles) …
Maria tells of how she healed a young boy through her own woundedness …
… the Russian pianist Maria Judina: “In my group there was a boy about 8-9 years old who was a pain in the neck, his name was Akinfa. Practically, he had no family. He lived with some relatives he didn’t love and who didn’t love him. He was annoying, he was provoking with everybody, he was making fun of the Jewish kids, he was getting into fights, and so on. We all used to encourage him with our words and with our example [not only with words!], particularly me, since I was in charge of him. But, at one point Akinfa went too far: he beat one of the other kids, insulted the adults, committed a petty theft, and so they decided to expel him.
When the time came to carry on the sentence, the moment of the final separation, I don’t know why, but I broke into tears, and in that moment the second birth of Akinfa took place. He broke into tears as well, he asked everybody for forgiveness, gave back what he had stolen, and from that moment he started to follow me around everywhere in the camp like a faithful puppy; he kept explaining to everybody that never in his life had he seen a teacher break into tears for one of her students, a teacher who cried – to say it in his own words – “over the soul and the life of a rascal”. Such was his sense of amazement and his desire to get back on the right track”. This is not for the kids, but for us. It is for us! So, the more this becomes familiar in our life, the more we realize that it’s not a matter of age and techniques, but that it is the same for everybody. (Carron pdf)