Judges, Implied Audiences, and the Transformative Potential of Speech

Lawyers who go to court and try cases spend a lot of time talking about, and trying to figure out how judges think. Because, in all hearings or trials except jury trials, the judge is the sole decision-maker, the one who will either accept or reject the lawyer's argument. And, if you are going to persuade someone, you need to know what is important to that person.

Now, I could write a really engaging post here if I could tell the truth about judges actions, and report on the real conversations of lawyers about judges. Some of us lawyers have very complex psychological analyses of judges that would amaze the judges, and might even be as beneficial as psychological therapy for them, if they would take them seriously. And, then again, some of our theories of how a judge thinks may be so off base that it would make the judge "belly laugh" if he (all our judges in Blount County are male) heard it.

In practicing law, you need to know the law, and you need to understand your judges. You also need to understand your clients. To know the law means you get a real sense of what it means, and how to apply it in various situations: your client's situation and the situation in the courtroom where you need to persuade the judge or a jury.

But, sometimes I think we lawyers sell ourselves short when we forget how much power we have when we really understand the law, our clients and the judge. Because all judges, like all people, have their better and worse selves, have their better and worse days. If you can appeal to that better self on a good day, you may be able to persuade the judge to make a decision he or she wouldn't normally make. When you go to court as a lawyer, you paint a picture. If it is compelling enough, the judge buys that picture and you get what your client is requesting. And, part of that picture you paint as a lawyer is the picture of the judge (the image of the judge). If you can project an image of the judge that is favorable to your viewpoint, then the judge might go your way. What a real good lawyer does is get the judge to imagine himself as the kind of judge you are projecting in your argument.

What I am really getting at is an analysis of rhetoric. In rhetorical analysis, one concept that is discussed is the implied audience, and how the speaker constructs the implied audience in the speech. Of course, there is a real audience that hears the speech, which may or may not be in accord with the implied audience. What is really interesting though is the extent to which a speaker can create out of a real audience the implied audience that will receive his or her speech. In other words, the speaker has to hit the real audience close enough to home and in a way that inspires something deep within or else the audience isn't going to be shaped into the type of audience that the speech is meant for. There is a creative, dynamic process occurring when a speaker really engages the hearer. At times, the speaker herself can be transformed by the event as well. But, the speaker shouldn't forget another part of the picture. For the speaker has to paint the picture, and become the speaker that this argument is meant for as well. That requires that the speaker by transformed by the event as well. The dynamic, truly persuasive argument is one in which the speaker becomes transformed or given to the speaking. That is what gives the speech power to transform the hearer as well. If the speaker simply stays in his or her own skin, he or she only has personal, persuasive power. If the speaker gives himself to the speaking event, then something greater can happen.

A Week Later: Thinking about body and soul, preaching, and personal conversations

Six days ago I posted about having spent a week paying some attention to my inner life, and how that seemed to have restored a deep sense of sanity and peace.

This week, I have gotten run over a little more by concerns, work, and the whatever it is that wears us out even when life is going pretty well. So, here I am on Thursday morning. It has still been a good week, but I have not sustained my energy too well. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

It seems that I have not attended to the needs of my body very well. And, that tends to wear out the soul in time. So, last week I had this focus on the soul that seemed to sustain me body and soul. But, this week, I got all caught up in concerns of work and other concerns, failed to attend to the state of my body or soul very well, and I am worn out. But, I am not worn out too bad in my soul, more in my body. If I don't turn this around by attending to body, then it will wear down my soul as well. The state of my soul this Thursday morning is fairly positive, but a little off center. The state of my body is very tired, which I think causes the sense of being off-balance. I'll try to pay some attention today to body and soul, and see if I can regain the sense of peace and energy I had at the end of last week.

I am thinking of seeing how fasting might help restore the equilibrium in body and soul that brings peace and new energy. I think that by paying some attention each week to the state of body and soul, I can keep from sinking down too low. The soul can endure a lot, and when you have to exert yourself in trying circumstances in ways that would seem to wear your body out, if there is purpose in this exertion, it seems like the soul's energy just sustains the body. But, when you are exerting yourself a lot and don't have a sense of purpose, then the weariness of the body tears down the soul - that is, where there is no energy coming from the soul.

I have watched my mother and father endure overwhelming challenges with a sense of strength and sanity and good spirit even when these challenges would seem to have caused bodily or emotional collapse. Their key was that they acted in love for others. And, with both of them, there was just this deep sense of responsibility and toughness. These concrete memories of how they endured are active memories with me that inspire a similar perserverence and determination and almost pride in living on and living with deep purpose when challenges arise.

Well, back to the abstract.

Now, I know that it is a fiction to some extent talking about body and soul as if they are separate entities. Of course, they are united, and that is why I am finding out how attention to inner affects outer, and attention to outer affects inner. But, I still find the words "body" and "soul" helpful in trying to talk about and understand how I and other human beings are made up.

This talk may be too abstract to communicate very well. That's the reason it is good that we have the chance to communicate personally with each other about the real facts of a week. What I did in particular that wore me down, how I reacted positively or negatively to what someone else did. What I did that didn't make sense this week, and what I did that restored a sense of meaning this week. How others actions have affected me for good or evil. In these concrete details is the real message and meaning of the week. There are probably some I could tell without being too revealing, but most of the things that really matter day to day are pretty personal, I am beginning to think - whether they are thoughts or deeds.

This makes me think about preaching, and how it would be great on one hand to be able to let down all guards and just make sense of a scripture in terms of the real concrete struggles we are going through. Instead, in preaching, you have to figure out a way that speaks of things that are real enough to evoke reflection on real life in the hearers, but not so real or revealing as to evoke worry for or too much attention on the life of the preacher. Telling stories about things that have happened to others, or things you have observed can be helpful. For example, I could tell some stories of how I have seen my mother and father endure, and that would evoke a good reflection in others.

But, this post makes me think that there is really no substitute for deeply trusting, personal communication where you can really speak about the details of your experience and hear about someone else's thoughts and deeds and observations and compare and try to make sense of it all. I have been part of Bible Study at times when this has happened, but over the course of my life, it has almost always happened in informal conversations with one other person, or maybe two or three at a time where the communion was strong. We are all fairly quirky. When we share the real way we deal with life with others, they are bound to be amused and also touched, thinking: "well, that's almost as crazy as how I deal with life, but it does make a little sense . . . and it makes me feel a little less alone too."

We Are So Close to Real Sanity

It is Friday morning, and as I reflect on this work week that is almost at an end, I realize that I am feeling much better than I have for a good while. I started this week with a strong resolve to attend to my inner life as much as outer life this week. And, I am starting to think that a person's relationship to his or her own soul is similar to the relationship of a person to a close family member. When we tend to that relationship, a sense of peace and love and meaning unites us with our loved one. When we ignore, avoid or take for granted that relationship, a sense of alienation and loss of peace comes between us and our loved one.

I am beginning to think that my relationship with my own soul is similar to that. This week, while attending to many other things, I didn't forget to stop and get a sense of the state of my own soul. I will talk more about this in the next post. But, for now, I am convinced that we are so close to experiencing a real, profound sanity in life. This is a sanity that comes from a soul that is awake and able to channel into our lives an amazing and gracious power that is new everyday. The soul is the gateway to another reality that we are meant to share in, but that we ignore. This other reality is the reality of the Great Other whose beauty and wisdom and mercy give fire to the Sun and also give fire to the soul.

'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless God's holy name!" This is the song of my soul this morning. I pray that I show respect for the blessing of having a soul today as I go to court this morning. And, part of that showing respect is to recognize other human beings as those who share in that remarkable blessing of having a soul as well. We are so close to real sanity, because all it takes is learning how to make that inward journey to a place within us that is holy. But, while that journey is very short in terms of physical space, it can be very long in terms of personal travelling. Something this morning makes me very hopeful about this journey for human beings. It seems to me this morning that the way is much more simple and also closer in a personal sense than we have thought. Jesus said once: "Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For my burden is easy, and my yoke is light."

Finding Meaning in Normal Life

I was reading Ecclesiastes again, and the conclusions he reaches are very simple: you can't figure life out, but you can live it with a sense of joy if you learn to appreciate the normal.

"So go eat your bread and drink your wine and enjoy your vain life with the wife you love . . . "

"Eat, drink, and enjoy your daily work."

That doesn't sound a lot different from the Epicureans of Greece: "Eat, drink and be merry, for tommorrow we will die."

Maybe the Epicureans were not as far from widsom as we think.

It may be my bias against Epicurean philosophy or my bias in favor of scripture, but I get the sense that the Epicurean saying comes from a desperate manic mood about life, whereas Ecclesiastes' saying comes from a basic appreciation for the gift of life and a certain sense of peace with being a creature dependent on the Creator. But, maybe I am reading in a lot more than is there in Ecclesiastes.

I have always liked this book, standing as it does, in the middle of the Hebrew Bible. Maybe it wouldn't be so meaningful if it wasn't part of the Holy Scripture, if it just stood on its own.

And, I hear in it a profoundly simple message: "appreciate the normal." The getting up in the morning, the coffee, the sunrise, the fact that you have work to do and can do it, the food, the drink, a couple of people to share it with. And, the chance to figure out a few things today, and have plenty to work on tommorrow.

As I watch the news . . .

I haven't been one to watch the news or read newspapers very often over the years, but I have been drawn to news stories about what is going on in the Middle East. I see people sick and tired of being arrested without cause, held without representation, and tortured without any chance to challenge the deprivation of liberty and dignity. I have heard story after story of locking people up without due process of law. They are sick of it in Libya, in Egypt, and in other countries over there.

And, then I turn around and read the paper here, read the new laws passed by our legislature in Tennessee, and look at the news, and I see legislatures passing laws to deny due process rights among our citizens. People in the Mideast are dying to gain what we have but don't value.

"I Believe, Help Thou My Unbelief"

This is what the father of the demon-possessed boy says to Jesus as he seeks healing for his son. The scriptures tell us that the boy would be thrown down on the ground by the demon, foaming at the mouth, really much like a grand mal seizure, again and again.

The father, desperate for help, has brought his son to Jesus' disciples for help, but they can do nothing. The boy's torment, and his father's suffering, continues.

And, Jesus looks at his disciples saying, "This kind can only be cast out by fasting and prayer." Obviously, Jesus was not going to go away for fasting and prayer and then come back whenever to the man and his son. He was ready to offer help right then and there. I guess Jesus' point to his disciples was that he had prepared himself for this battle and they hadn't.

And, when Jesus says "all things are possible for the one who believes," the man cries out: "I believe, help thou my unbelief!" And, apparently that was plenty of faith as far as Jesus was concerned. In fact, that is a pretty fair response when you have been watching the suffering of one you love and no help has come though you have prayed like hell and though you have sought out everyone you know who might be able to help.

Jesus was looking for honest, human faith, not some out of body belief that wasn't tied to the real situation. And, this man expressed what was in his mind and heart as clearly as he could. "I believe, help thou my unbelief."

He believed because he couldn't give up loving his son. He didn't believe because he had prayed and done everything possible and everytime it brought no relief. Yes, he expressed things very well. "I believe, help thou my unbelief."

For anyone who has had a close friend or family member who just can't seem to get over a sickness or a destructive situation, this man is a patron saint. Because what can you do when you love, but your love doesn't ever seem to bring real change and help to the one you love? What are you supposed to do when your prayers never seem to bring any relief or help, when your hope is beaten down to the point that you stuggle to get back up and keep up the fight, even when the one you love seems to have given in or the one you love seems doomed by a sickness no one can resist or treat.

What can you do but try to bring that person before God and say: "I believe, help thou my unbelief." Because faith is part belief and part unbelief. Those people who seem to just believe without doubt or complaint, well . . . I'm not sure I believe them. Jesus seemed to have some honest struggle with his own destiny. "I pray that this cup might pass from me, but not my will but thy will be done."

But, many religious people would present the faithful life as if it has nothing to do with doubt and struggle and even bitter complaints to God at times. Of course, the Bible itself contains page after page of the faithful expressing doubts, complaints and even bitterness.

"I believe, help thou my unbelief," was good enough for Jesus and God.

*passage is in the Gospel of Mark 9:14-29

A Sense of Calling in Life

Some people have a sense of "calling" to a particular work; others just find something that seems to make sense for them. Others just make a living any way that they can find, and leave talk of "callings" to those who have the luxury to choose.

I am a person who had a very overpowering sense of "calling" when I was almost 20 years old. And, the sense of purpose coming out of that helped me to organize my thoughts and feelings in response to that call.

Psychologically speaking, adolescence and young adulthood is a natural time to experience a sense of calling, because it is in those years that we are struggling to form our adult identity. Some young adults are able to maintain or establish a positive sense of self and then find a job and learn how to live as adults in this world. But, some young people, like me yearned for something more. Maybe part of it was that I had the luxury of choices, since I was not desperate to put food on the table.

I am deeply thankful for the experience of feeling clear that I was to work with people who were in trouble, and to go into dark places with them in the name of God. I responded by transferring colleges, majoring in religion, reading a lot of theology,philosophy and Bible, and trying to make sense of things theologically and spiritually. I responded by deciding to go to seminary. I felt called to find out the truth, proclaim the truth and live the truth. And, that truth from God that I felt deeply had to do with standing with people who were down or cast out by others. It is this calling that has gotten me through a lot of confusion in my life, has carried me through times of self-doubt and sorrow, and that continues with me like an old friend at this point.

Of course, sometimes we get tired of old friends, and long for some new friends.

Though I do get weary of dealling with trouble, I am deeply thankful for this sense of purpose in life. I am not the kind of person who would adapt too well to societal expectations of adult life if I didn't have some individual sense of purpose.

As I get older and as I get tired of dealing with responsibilities and people's problems, and as I think of how great it would be to have a long,long vacation (maybe retirement) from dealing with people in trouble, I have to look at my old friend, my calling, who stood with me and held me up when I didn't have the strength to go on, who told me I was worth something when I felt so down, and that made me realize that my deepest purpose in life is not to be happy but to serve God - the God whose heart goes out to the poor, the downcast, and the outcast.

It has been my experience that happiness comes as a second thought, as a by-product of purpose. "Seek you first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness and all these things will be added unto you as well." If you set out to be happy, happiness usually remains out of reach. If you set out to fulfill a purpose, then happiness may not always be at the forefront, but it sneaks up on you again and again when you least expect it.