Social Workers are Warriors

I've got my feet shod, in the preparation of peace.

I have the sword of the spirit, and the shield of peace

I've got my breastplate of righteousness

and my helmet of salvation.

I put on my armor and I'm ready for the battle,

I'm ready for the battle.

I'm a soldier, in the army of the lord,

I'm a soldier in the army...

Above is a song we like to sing to the kiddies in my church.  Its a good song to get prepared for.


Social workers wear many hats.  We are messengers, comforters, service providers and professionals.  We investigate, we assess and we mediate.  We care, we empathize, we cry and we get back up.

I would wage that our biggest hat is that of the warrior.  We are brave in the face of crisis, and everyday we are preparing for battle.  We've lost a great many to our cause, mostly from burn-out.  We stand in the face of injustice, and when we get knocked down, you can betcha we're getting back up.

Bravery
Courage
Resilience
Strength in numbers
Inner-strength

Not only do we have these qualities in ourselves, we give them to our clients.  We give them to our clients so that one day, they too will be warriors.  I hope that one day they will be able to conquer all of the systems that brought them to my desk in the first place.  Until then I will be standing there watching over them.  I will take a bullet for them.  Thats Radical, thats social work.