Today I went to talk to Danit about Shannon. First I confessed my recent failings to her—how I built up resentment against Shannon, how I judged her for her faults without seeing her loneliness and her need. Then I asked to be removed from her case.
Danit was astonished. “Asa’el, why do you wish to be removed when you have come to see Shannon’s worth?”
“Because I cannot see that I am the best angel to help her,” I explained. “What I believe would be best for her now would be to return to her project of researching and exhibiting street art in the city. But I am a Cupid, and this is the work of a Muse or a Supervisor. Love is not what Shannon needs most right now.”
Danit hummed to herself. “Are you so certain?” She rose and threw out her wings, carrying me down to Earth with her.
She brought me to Shannon’s home, where Shannon was flipping through her phone, listless and bored. Shannon’s spirits have been low for a few days, although she is choosing not to think about what made her break down.
“Encourage her to work,” Danit told me.
I was puzzled, but I obeyed. Crouching close to Shannon, I murmured that there was work she could be doing, that would fill her time better.
Shannon curled tighter into the sofa, scowling at the screen of her phone. In her aura were spikes of resentment and despair. What’s the point? she thought. The merest thought of the effort of doing anything that might matter exhausted her.
Without thinking, I wrapped her in my wings and sent a rush of reassurance through her. “Such things take energy from your heart, it is true,” I told her, “but they give energy back as well. Remember how it felt to see that artwork the first time? Remember how it drove you and warmed you? You can have that again?”
Shannon glanced across the room at her desktop computer, her thoughts a bit sharper. Still she hesitated.
“I know that this work will be good for you, Shannon,” I murmured, “and I know that you can do well at it. I believe in you.”
Finally, some of my encouragement sank through her defenses. She took a deep breath, then rolled off the sofa and went to her computer. A few strokes of the keys called her project back to the screen, and she began to dig through what she had already done.
I looked at Danit, who was smiling. “You see?” she asked.
I did see. Perhaps a Muse may have been able to give Shannon better inspiration than I can; perhaps a Supervisor would have been able to give practical advice and ideas that I cannot. But without self-assurance, without confidence that there is a purpose to her work, Shannon would not have even begun. Those things come with love.
“Our seniors chose you specifically for this charge, Asa’el,” Danit told me. “This work is very important, and they believe that you are the best for the task. Have faith in their wisdom, and in yourself.” And with that she left me to my work.
I am humbled and intrigued by her words. I wonder why Shannon is so very critical to our seniors? And why I am I better to help her than any other? I suppose I will find out in time. For now, I will continue as I have done, and better than that, to be the helper that Shannon deserves.