Free from guilt or blame

Suffice it to say it's been a long and utterly bizarre day.

How many times over in one day must I be reminded how lucky I am for the things that I have, for me to finally Get It. At least three times today, I've nearly broken down in tears. Once was at the end of a speech given by the 100th person to be exonerated from death row. He ended his tale with this anecdote, which I can only paraphrase:

When I walked out of the prison gates, the warden shook my hand. Because I happened to be the 100th person to be set free after facing death row (not the 99th or the 101st), there was a crowd of reporters waiting for me to do an impromptu press conference. I answered all their questions and mentioned that I had slept with a Bible under my pillow every night.

Then, one of the reporters in the back called out, "Hey, Ray, how can you believe in a God who would put you in prison for 10 years for a murder you didn't commit?"

And I had just walked out and was seeing the light of day, essentially for the first time in years. I was stunned. I stood there silently for a few minutes, unsure of what to say. And then the words just came out of me, out of nowhere. I said, "Maybe it's not about what happened those last 10 years. Maybe it's about what I do in the next 10."

And then he urged us to do two things. First, when we are facing struggles and feel like we've lost hope, to remember his story and to never stop fighting, or think that it's all for nothing. Because we never know what our purpose might be. And second, when we go out into the world as attorneys, as prosecutors or defenders or whoever, that we never lose sight of our integrity and our values. That we don't trade those values in pursuit of fame, money or credentials. That we keep fighting to make our legal justice system the best in the world.