Great Attorney
By loreen sarmientoCebu Daily News
My dad was a lawyer. My sister only has to take the bar to become another lawyer in the family. After graduating from college, I was advised by our guidance counselor that I should proceed to take up law. I was a good fit, she said.
But I didn’t take up her advice. I had to work and earn right away for the family.
Fast-forward 20 years, I found myself on the phone calling a local university for the tuition rates and class schedules to start my law studies.
But that was just it—a call. The chance to take up law slipped again.
Today, people tell me I should be in court when they hear me passionately stressing an opinion. Hmmm . . . How would life be had I taken that turn and became a lawyer?
Well, I can still be an attorney. Before you cross your eyebrows and point to me that “attorney” is still a lawyer, I beg to disagree. I have Wikipedia to back me up (LOL). It wrote that “attorney,” in England and Wales, is a person, who may be but is not necessarily a lawyer, who is authorized to act on someone else’s behalf in either a business or a personal matter.
Ha! So minus another college degree, I am an “attorney” after all.
When top officials of a mining company where I once worked had to deal with a radical union group, I stood on their behalf before media practitioners, before workers and before union leaders. As the company’s public relations officer, I was its “attorney” for them.
When workers of a lumber company where I also once worked were not being honored by a hospital, I was there to represent them so they can be treated or admitted. I was the human resource manager then but I knew I was an “attorney” again.
When a colleague in my present work accidentally ran over a young boy and faced threats from grieving parents and relatives, I shielded him from the danger and even faced the cops so he won’t get arrested. I was the company manager but I was being an “attorney.”
Not all of us are lawyers but I’m sure we have been in situations when we were “attorneys,” too. It’s human nature to stand up for others, to represent people and to defend the helpless. That’s the goodness of the human spirit.
But there is a great attorney who will forever stand up for us even after we acted worst. Here’s his story.
A woman, after living what she felt was a decent life on earth, died. The first thing she remembered is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what she thought to be a courthouse.
The doors opened and she was instructed to sit at the defense table. She looked around and saw the villainous-looking prosecutor who snarled at her like she was the most evil person around.
The woman looked to her left and saw her attorney, a kind and gentle-looking man who looked familiar.
Soon, the Judge came into the room. With his commanding presence, He took His seat behind the bench and said, “Let us begin.”
The prosecutor rose and said, “My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this woman belongs in hell . . .”
He proceeded to tell of the woman’s lies, what she stole and when she cheated on others. The woman’s heart sank while listening to all the horrible things Satan was narrating about her.
She was so embarrassed that she couldn’t look at anyone, not even to her attorney.
She was also upset that the Attorney just sat there silently. She knows she’s guilty of sins but she had also done some good in her life—couldn’t that at least equal out part of the harm she’d done?
Satan ended angrily and said, “This woman belongs in hell, she is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise.”
When it was His turn, the woman’s Attorney first asked if He might approach the bench. The Judge allowed this even if Satan objected.
As He got up and started walking, the woman realized why He seemed so familiar. This was Jesus representing her!
The Attorney then softly said to the Judge, “Hi, Dad.” And then He turned to address the court.
“Satan was correct in saying that this woman had sinned, I won’t deny any of these allegations. And, yes, the wage of sin is death, and this woman deserves to be punished.”
Jesus took a deep breath and turned to His Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, “However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life and she has accepted Me as her Savior, so she is Mine. Her name is written in the Book of Life, and no one can snatch her from Me. Satan still does not understand. This woman is not to be given justice, but rather mercy.”
As Jesus sat down, He quietly paused, looked at His Father and said, “There is nothing else that needs to be done. I’ve done it all.”
The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down. The following words bellowed from His lips, “This woman is free. The penalty for her has already been paid in full. Case dismissed.”
What an Attorney we have! Pro bono at that . . . forever.
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