All rise, all rise...

As I referenced last week, one of my lifetime firsts this year was attending traffic court. It was a fascinating experience; there were about 75 of us that were herded into a courtroom (‘just like the movies’) where we then sat, no cellphones, no newspapers, no anything allowed; just sat and waited for our turn to rise and face the judge.

The session started off with the more serious offenses; most of the defendants had lawyers to represent them. I was terrified, thinking that I was supposed to have called a lawyer to represent my case. It was so much safer that way; you stood and approached the judge but someone else did all the talking for you. The rules and regulations of court were unfamiliar to me and I was afraid that I would botch it up if I had to speak for myself. I shortly came to realize that lawyers were only for the more serious offenses (drunk driving, etc.) and that minor reports such as running red lights or wrong turns were left up to the defendant to explain themselves.

As I carefully formulated my defensive speech in my head (debating whether using the word ‘infarction’ would give off an attitude of facetiousness) I watched the proceedings with interest, thinking on how the scene represented our mortal lives. One day we will be called before the Eternal Judge and required to give an account of our life proceedings. How will we face Him on that day? For what sins will we be cited? I watched the lawyers who represented their clients and wondered if that was how it would be when we are called and Christ stands up to represent us. The defendants were obviously nervous but trusted that their lawyers knew exactly how to speak on their behalf. How will my conscience feel on that day, knowing that He is my celestial 'lawyer' and will defend my every mortal action?

We were all there for violations, at least of that we all shared the same guilt. So it is with eternal court, we all have sinned and none of us are exempt. What sort of attitudes will we take with us on that judgment day? The rich, the powerful, they will want their legal backing, they will want their mortal status to give them special treatment. The criminals, the abusive, they will use their moral compromises and life circumstances to justify their actions. As I approached the bench, I did not hope for extraneous mercy nor expect anything less than justice. If they fined me then I deserved it; I would have given my full and honest testimony and that is what for which I am accountable. My only true fear when my name was called (pronounced surprisingly correctly) was that I would drop my purse or trip over my coat on the way to the bench. It’s happened before.

The ironic part was when I finally made it to the bench (purse and coat intact), the only motion the judge made was for me to turn around and face the court (which flustered me; nobody ELSE had to do that!) and ask if anyone in the court had a suit to file against me. When nobody volunteered (most people averting their eyes, others gazing at me with sympathy at the social discomfort of facing a room full of strangers), the judge told me I was free to go. ???

Apparently my ‘failure to yield’ ticket was contingent only upon the other party’s desire to file a suit. Otherwise all charges are dropped and I still have a clean driving record. I was almost indignant, not having had the chance to dazzle the court with my superior public speaking skills, but my desire to leave the courtroom before my allotted three hours’ parking expired (in fifteen minutes), not to mention the tidal wave of relief of not having to publicly humiliate myself one nanosecond longer than absolutely necessary, superseded that urge. I hurried back out into the cold winter morning, a clean driver still. I made sure I stayed well within the speed limit all the way home.