I'm trying to make you a warrior

I was talking to another attorney today and she mentioned that she was speaking to new clients at legal aid and as part of counseling with them, she said, “I don’t want you to be a victim.  I’m trying to make you a warrior.”

I thought that was an interesting but accurate way of looking at the role of an attorney as advocate because when someone needs legal advice and legal assistance, they typically are in the role of victim in some way.  Victim of a crime, victim of circumstances, victim of life. My law license has two descriptors:  Attorney and Counselor at Law. Because the job of an attorney is far more than just providing advice on the law. It’s about advocating for them in court before the judge. It’s often providing advice on life. It’s sometimes holding hands, holding hearts, holding trust. And sometimes, as the attorney I was speaking to said to her clients, it’s building them up to change them from being victims to being warriors.

And isn’t that what Jesus does for us?  No, I’m not comparing attorneys to Jesus because seriously, have you met most of them? But isn’t being an advocate a part of what Jesus is to us? One who advocates for us before “the judge,” God the Father. One who provides guidance on how to live our lives. One who holds our hands, holds our hearts, holds our trust. One who builds us up to make us warriors so we don’t have to be victims any longer.

It’s one thing to be an expert on the law. It’s another thing to be an expert on making relationships. I think that’s true for Jesus, true for lawyers, and true for all of us. The practice of building people up is sacred work, no matter your profession. Building warriors out of victims is a calling, no matter who you are. But I think it’s part of what we are called to do.  Let us do so with love and grace. Holding hands, holding hearts, holding trust.