“Until you settle the issue of your own worth, it’s impossible to bring holiness into anyone else’s life. Until you understand that your worth is already determined by the fact of your birth, everything else is an exercise in propping up a dying tree.”
~~ Carol Brazo ~~
Since I first saw the quote for this week’s writing exercise, one of my all-time favorite Bible passages has permeated my thoughts:
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The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”"Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Jeremiah 1:4-10
There are no accidents. There are no coincidences. Not one single person is living on this planet at this moment in time who wasn’t placed here as part of God’s plan. Each of us has a specific purpose, a particular path we are meant to walk, neither of which is necessarily easy to discern. We each have something to say, whether we do it verbally, via prose, poetry, musically, theatrically . . . We have each come into this world according to that plan for our life . . . and should leave it in the same way.
We are all equal. We are all worthy.
We are all modern-day Jeremiahs.
This is the story of yet another aspect of my life upon which the hand of God can be seen. It is also an example of what I talked about in my initial post about my six-year journey litigating Conservatorship of Wendland: When you are truly called, you have no choice but to answer.
No matter what the cost.
. . . lose his . . . ahem . . . cookies, so to speak.
I was reminded tonight, as I watched the services for President Gerald Ford and caught a few moments of Ben Stein’s appearance on The O’Reilly Factor, about the evening that I spent with him.
Most people know Ben from “Win Ben Stein’s Money” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Lesser known is the fact that Ben worked as a speech writer for Presidents Nixon and Ford, and is a conservative political commentator. He is also a life advocate.
“This is the hardest case.” So said the Third District Court of Appeal on February 24, 2000. It was the very first sentence of its lengthy ruling.
And, in my opinion, that sentence made about as much sense as did the remainder of their decision, which included a remand back to the trial court. In other words, a directive to go try the case again.
I remember reading that part and thinking, “Over my dead body. Literally.”
There was never anything hard about this case from a legal standpoint, especially after that day in the summer of 1995 when we (me, the managing partner at my firm, Rose Wendland’s then-counsel, W. Stephen Scott, and Judge McNatt) visited Robert at Lodi Memorial Hospital. Judge McNatt said that if he was going to render a decision about the man’s life, he wanted to see the man in person.
Tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of the California Supreme Court’s decision in Conservatorship of Wendland.
So how ironic is it that tonight of all nights I happened to run into the trial court judge, Bob W. McNatt? (The photo at right is from December 1997, as he was delivering his trial ruling — victory for my clients and the end of the Superior Court trial.)
I hadn’t seen him for a couple of years and must say that I was genuinely glad to encounter him. I would not describe Judge McNatt as a brilliant jurist, but he is a decent, honorable man who is committed to his work. Throughout theWendland case, I knew that he was doing his very best to be thorough, accurate, and in compliance with the letter of the law. During the trial, he knew that any ruling he made would be appealed, and I always felt that he did his best to provide the parties with his rationale so that the appellate court would have a decent record to review when making its decision.
“Call” is defined as:
1. To order or request to undertake a particular activity or work; summon. He was called to the priesthood.
2. A claim on a person’s time or life: the call of duty.
3. A strong inner urge or prompting; a vocation: a call to the priesthood.
Among the various definitions I have found for “calling” are:
1. An inner urge or a strong impulse, especially one believed to be divinely inspired to accept the Gospels as truth and Jesus as one’s personal savior.
2. An occupation, profession, or career.
3. The particular occupation for which you are trained.
4. A profession, or as we usually say, a vocation (1 Cor. 7:20). The “hope of your calling” in Ephesians 4:4 is the hope resulting from your being called into the kingdom of God.
People ask me (I may have mentioned this before) if and when I am going to write a book detailing my recollections, advice, and feelings about the six years I spent litigating Conservatorship of Wendland. I have no plans for a book . . . just this blog. To write a book, I would have to focus all my energy on that endeavor to the exclusion of other activities, which would be impossible. It would require an intense emotional and psychological commitment. I would have to really “hunker down” and relive the events that took place in a concentrated, intentional manner over a specific time interval. I’m not ready to do that and don’t know that I ever will be. This blog allows me to comment about bits and pieces, here and there.
The cost was too high.
In the July 2006 issue of “California Lawyer,” Gerald Uelmen reviews the work of the California Supreme Court over the past decade under the leadership of Chief Justice Ronald George.
Among the best, i.e., well-reasoned, decisions rendered by the Court during Chief Justice George’s tenure, Professor Uelman recognized Conservatorship of Wendland (2001) 26 Cal.4th 519.
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The following comes from the AP:
Injured Man’s Brain Rewires Itself
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
(July 4) – Doctors have their first proof that a man who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years regained speech and movement because his brain spontaneously rewired itself by growing tiny new nerve connections to replace the ones sheared apart in a car [...]
“Watching Florida” posted a comment in response to my prior entry about the death of Dr. Ronald Cranford that I feel deserves comment, so I am moving it into the body of this blog to assure that readers don’t overlook our exchange.
“Watching Florida” said:
Without a doubt you are a better person than I am, aren’t [...]
Medical expert in Terry Schiavo case dies
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS – Neurologist Dr. Ronald Cranford, one of the nation’s leading medical ethicists and right-to-die advocates, died Wednesday at a hospice in Edina, from complications of kidney cancer. He was 65.
Cranford was thrust into the public spotlight by the case of Terry Schiavo, a Florida woman he diagnosed [...]
Ronald Cranford, M.D. Dead
