A friend in need is a friend indeed – one of the so many proverbs taught to us as part of our English syllabus in school. I still remember I was first introduced to this maxim when I was 5 or 6, and it confused me. The thought process of my raw mind was “if a friend of mine needs me then how is he/she a true friend?” Not the exact words of course, but something to the effect. Obviously I came to realize the actual meaning of the proverb eventually, but my naiveté was fun to share and also that is something I’m writing about, helping a friend in need, and becoming a friend indeed!
How do you help a friend? You see a friend in distress, you know it in the deepest corners of your psyche that they are troubled, yet you do not have an exact reason for their state of mind; they don’t help you with that either. They are either too shy or too proud to ask for your help, or they don’t look at you as someone who can ‘help’. Maybe they are right. This is a particularly delicate proposition for you. Do you leave them alone and let them heal on their own, do you cheer them up with anecdotes, do you give them food for soul (in the form of ‘wise words’) or do you just forget about it, after all you aren’t even sure if they are facing a problem. All these options seem equally good. Yet listing them like this doesn’t help you choose what you should go for. One thing that works here is prayer. As a wise Sagittarian once said “a prayer in its simplest definition is merely a wish turned Godward”, let Him know of how well you wish of your friend, and then, hope. Given that you don’t know what better to do, having a little faith would give incredible strength to you. And good wishes from the heart are bound to reach the friend and give them strength too. You, as a friend, may not be able to enlighten them with ‘the solution’ to their problem/s, you may not be able to hear them out, you may not be able to lessen their burden, but you will surely be able to contribute in making their back stronger, more capable of carrying their load.
Sometimes a prayer is all you can give.
