The Spritual Revitalization of the Legal Profession: A Search for Sacred Rivers
by David Hall
(continued from Home page)
Not only does it provide a source of life for people, villages and cities, but it also eventually becomes a symbol of the values of the place and the people it sustains. The Nile is more than a body of water in Egypt. Historically, it became the source of life on this side of reality, and a major guide into the eternal life to come. The Jordan River is more than a historical landmark in Judaic/Christian development. It represents the struggle, triumph and spiritual power of oppressed people in their journey for liberation and salvation. The Mississippi River was not just a center of commerce and entertainment for an expanding nation; it represented the culture, music, poetry and praise of people from different backgrounds who had the common experience of the river. The Ganges River in India has a deep spiritual meaning, and in ancient south Indian literature it was described as a force which descended from heaven in order to restore life to the dead. So the river in the context of this book symbolizes the soul and spirit of the legal profession. It represents our connection to each other, and to the divine. It is that invisible, yet tangible, place that gives meaning and purpose to our lives and our work. The river with stones scattered along its bank, and mountains overshadowing its existence, creates a metaphor for understanding how the profession has nurtured its participants, and what we must do in order to discover or return to the ultimate source of law and life. Gretel Ehrlich captured this connection between the river and our spiritual quest in the following passage: “To trace the history of a river or a raindrop…is to also trace the history of the soul, the history of the mind descending and rising in the body. In both, we constantly seek and stumble upon divinity.” I hope to take you on a journey down a river that may or may not connect us with the divine, but hopefully will point us to the divinity that exists within us.
It is said that it is difficult to know where a river begins, and so it is with this book. We first glimpse the river moving slowly through the treacherous rapids of definitions and foundations. Chapter One, “On the Wings of Spirit,” provides the traveler with a definition of spirituality, an identification of the spiritual challenges facing the legal profession, the illusions of law that entrap us, and an exegesis on the spiritual basis of law. The goal of this section is to open hearts, ease fears, and inspire tired and weary legal souls. The river widens a few miles downstream and we encounter it in full force as it gouges out steep valleys, with majestic mountains watching silently on all sides.
Chapter Two, entitled “A Search for Sacred Rivers,” makes the critical distinction between the attorney’s personality and the lawyer’s soul. The interplay between rivers and stones become clear at this point, with stones representing the classic lawyer personality and the river serving as a metaphor for the lawyer’s soul. It is also at this point that the river makes a deep and dangerous drop-off into troubled waters as it discusses lawyers in crisis. The goal of this section is not to air the dirty laundry of lawyers in public, but to indicate that it is often through dramatic personal and professional challenges that some lawyers find their way to the river. Stumbling, battered and bruised, they discover how to handle their pain, and how to deal with temptation as they strive to become and remain ethical lawyers. Read excerpt >>
Chapter Three, “Practicing Law From the River,” takes us to the heart of this search. The river attempts to instruct the inquisitive lawyer about what it means to serve the whole client, embrace the challenge of leadership, and conduct one’s practice in a healing manner. The practice of law begins to feel and look different at this juncture, but the stones are still there, serving to remind us of our limitations and inconsistencies, and intensifying our journey. There are no earth shattering theories buried along the riverbank, but there are some different interpretations about the lawyer’s and judge’s search for truth. As the river leaves the mountains and hills, more tributaries join the river, increasing the volume of water. The flow is less turbulent and the river becomes more familiar now to me, and probably to all the travelers who have ever attended or taught at a law school.
Chapter Four, “Teaching to the River,” provides a framework for teaching law so that it systematically nurtures the values and spiritual aspirations of students and professors. Though this is a familiar part of the river for me, having been a law professor for over twenty-five years, there are some dangerous turns as I reveal my failures, challenges and joys in striving to teach from and to the river. As the river moves downstream the physical parameters of it change, and so do the terrains and the communities that exist on its banks. The land seems barren and desolate. The towns, or what is left of them, appear deserted and neglected. There are still people here, but the river does not provide them with the things they need to survive and prosper, or with the inspiration that they seek. Despite the depressed look of the surroundings and its inhabitants, I am confident that a great people once lived here. They thrived on the river, but for various reasons travelers, commerce and lawyers now come less frequently through their lives.
Chapter Five, “The Social Justice River,” explores the challenges, obligations and joys of providing legal services to the poor. This chapter serves to remind lawyers of their legal and spiritual responsibility to serve all of those who live along the river, and those who live in abandoned valleys, isolated from the centers of commerce and business. It also identifies some of the unique challenges for those lawyers who have dedicated their lives to serving the poor. A dramatic occurrence on any river is when the streams of justice and love majestically merge into the same flow. This is the subtle warning and calling of this chapter.
There is a major fork in the river at this point, and it divides into two seemingly separate parts before plunging down a steep mountain and creating a beautiful waterfall. At the bottom of the mountain the waters come together again in order to encounter new streams of practice and overcome old obstacles and dams. Chapter Six, “New Streams and Old Dams,” provides various perspectives and approaches to the practice of law that are more value-focused or spiritually centered. Under the banner of holistic forms of practice, the traveler will be exposed to collaborative law, therapeutic jurisprudence, contemplative legal practices, and restorative justice. There are dams, both man-made and natural, that must be overcome if the profession is to reach its full potential. Therefore, cherished practices and policies, such as billable hours, hiring and promotion criteria, are examined through a spiritual prism. Despite the dams, this part of the river becomes very invigorating as the discussion focuses on how various lawyers, from different religious traditions, strive to practice their faiths as they practice law. The river seems to return to its original source and takes on an ancient color and flow as it examines lawyers in sacred texts. The Torah, Talmud, Midrash, Bible, Koran and Bhagavad-Gita are examined for insights into the ancient and sacred role of lawyers, advocates, counselors and judges. This chapter ends by providing some practical steps that lawyers can take to find the river in the “courtroom of divine guidance”. The power of prayers, meditation and other spiritual techniques are examined through the experiences and stories of lawyers. As the river enters the lowlands and starts to slow, more streams and bank-side vegetation develops. Numerous trees that thrive in wet conditions clutter the bank, and large rafts of water crowfoot dominate the rushing river. These changes are evidence that the journey has been long and challenging, but still incomplete.
The river now moves to a point where we must temporarily get off, but the river does not stop. Just as rivers have no beginning, they have no end. “When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come.” The seventh and last chapter, “Voices From the River,” is a poetic reminder of our calling as lawyers. Here the river speaks to us, in its own voice and rhythm. It is calling us to come to her majestic waters so that we can fulfill our mission in life. The river does not speak alone, for the yearning of lawyers who proceeded us are captured in these pages. With the permission of the river, they are trying one last time to help us re-imagine our lives and our work. They are trying to let us know that we have compelling work to do. They are also reminding us that as we do that work we must always be willing to invest in ourselves. The voices from the river want us to embrace the wisdom contained in the Chinese proverb that states, “The mark of a successful [person] is one that has spent the entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it.” My deepest prayer for this project is that you will not feel guilty or disappointed for having spent time with me on the banks, and in the midst of this river that represents the soul of lawyers and the legal profession.
This book, through the invocation of the river, attempts to open a new passageway for lawyers, judges, law students and professors. Some will choose to bathe in and flow with the river, and others will question its existence. For those who enter, I ask that you move with your heart as well as with your head. You may find some revelations, but much of what you find will be confirmations of things you have already felt, experienced or contemplated. Even though the profession has distanced itself from the river, the river still exists within us all. This may be a journey of uncharted waters for some, and I ask that you embrace and trust the flow. It may take you to places within yourself that have been closed for sometime. But if you are willing to touch those places again, I am confident that you will find precious gems that will help you become a better lawyer and human being. As you go on this journey with me, I ask that you travel in faith. If you already travel the path of spirit and soul, then this will be easy. If you do not, then look for the place along the river that touches you and see if it holds any meaning or insight. If not, then I still thank you for being part of a “river ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.”
