Times Daily Blog

In an age where chaos abounds, politically, economically and socially, marked by much dissatisfaction with one’s chosen profession, it is comforting to behold hope on the horizon. The legal profession is no exception. The crowd of lawyers leaving their line of work is reaching significant, if not alarming, proportions. The adversarial atmosphere and the combative confrontational approach ultimately wears thin on the brows or psyches of those whose sole aim is to bring order and stability to the lives of they who seek their services.

A newer, more beneficent methodology is becoming more widespread and more mainstream, bringing with it a more fulfilling result for the parties to a controversy or dispute and a greater sense of accomplishment for the advocates within. There is a shift in paradigm, or worldview, a set of beliefs about what is real and right.

Suddenly, terms like restorative, collaborative, and cooperative found their way in front of the word law as uncompromising adjectives as commonly as “criminal,” “civil,” “administrative” or any of the typical branches of the law. What distinguished the differences in approach can be summed up in the magnificent mark, “holistic,” defined as relating to, or worried with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or analysis into parts, such as in medicine when attempting to treat both the mind and the body .

J. Kim Wright lives her full life that way, and just as holistic thinking and methodology has led patients and doctors to alternative medicine and enhancement of existing traditional forms thereof, the same can be said of holistic law, which carries a spiritual perception of life into legal do and enhances both the well-being of the practitioner, the client, and the system by its gentle and pragmatic perspective. Lawyers as Peacemakers is Kim Wright’s nuts and bolts manual to this visionary and revolutionary means of rendering legal services.

Kim is co-founder of the Renaissance Lawyer Society and has been the clarion to make lawyers aware of another way to realize the lofty goals they set out to reach when they chose to pursue a legal career.

The book itself, as the author tells you, is not necessarily one to pore through cover-to-cover, but to use as a continual allusion source, “and a possible source of inspiration on those days when you would rather be doing something else. ” It is a guide to a holistic approach to law that includes the lawyers’ well being and the best interests of the client and society. We as lawyers have been so really embedded and captured by the adversarial paradigm that a massive mental metamorphosis must take place so that we who might be attracted in this other way of lawyering can make the shift.

A paradigm shift requires objectives and methodology which has to go away from the divisions between members of society and the segmented disposition of legal concerns. The path must aim toward the overall subsidy of compassion and transformation of the relationship between citizens and the legal system. Instead of us against them, it is all of us together seeking a solution in each area of law that has a long term, mutually beneficial solution Too much to hope for? Not at all, as is being demonstrated by lawyers all over the people. We are conditioned to an adversarial system where the resolution may be satisfactory for the moment and can produce satisfaction for one or a few of the parties, but not with lasting and continuous subsidy to society on a larger scale.

The author fine points how to go through making the shift, suggesting a coach, or a therapist, or both. It is hard to believe how terribly one or both are needed, but the rewards are fantastic in the sorting-out process.

One major question permanently revolves around the viability of making a income in the new legal boundary. The reviews are diverse, but encouraging. The author and her wealth of contributors warn of the need for training and reorientation. But there appears to be virtual union in the pronouncement that one by-product of the new legal specialty is happiness, satisfaction, peace of mind and yes, in some instances economic improvement.

The Movement is the transition from the adversarial to the restorative and the collaborative. Probably hard to conceive for those of us who are so ingrained in the stereotypical call to battle. The author starts with a chapter describing holistic law, a methodology that focuses on the spiritual aspects of a legal person’s nature and to find a commonality of purpose between those with opposite interests and positions. It seems revolutionary to use devices such as like and religion or spiritually in the process of resolving legal confrontation but it really bears fruit more in producing a lasting outcome, emotionally than a knockdown drag-out court battle…where no one wins and a bitter taste lingers.

There is something labeled “cooperative law,” which basically starts with a single-minded aim toward reaching a settlement, pledging civility and cooperation. There is implicit in this approach, full disclosure of all significant financial information, thus heading off the individual appraisal and expert opinions by obtaining joint appraisals and joint expert opinions. There is the promise to cooperate by obtaining meaningful input, for example obtaining an expert child specialist before requesting appointment of a guardian to be appointed by the court, excellent faith negotiation sessions and four way meetings where appropriate, to reach honest compromises based on valid information. And of way a prime requisite is cooperation by conducting oneself in a respectful, civil and qualified manner.

Kim proceeds to tell those aspiring to enter the area of law how to go about making the transition. There is a step by step guide to the changes that must be undergone to reach the “promised land.” Some will find it simpler than others if they have a predisposition toward spirituality. And that is something that everyone in any vocation or way of life can use more of.

Kim Wright is the author of Lawyers as Peacemakers: Practicing Holistic, Problem-Solving Law,
An ABA Flagship Book and bestseller.

Read more: Government, Book Review, Income, Spirituality, Law, Negotiation, Courts, Books News

What do Saint Francis of Assisi and the New Orleans Saints have in common? Goggle the term “saints” to find out.

An online quest for “saints” first reveals the official site of the football team that won this year’s Super Bowl and then a site for religious saints recognized by the broad Church.

These sacred and secular saints do have one thing in common: Saint Francis, the patron saint of animals and the environment, and the New Orleans Saints share a strong connection to place.

Today, stewardship of place has brought together diverse religious leaders — Muslims, Jews, Christians — who are playing on the same team to protect the earth, even with their differing religious beliefs. These faith leaders are standing in solidarity, united by a proper imperative to care for God’s creation.

In his book Making Saints, Kenneth Woodward defines a saint as “someone through whom we bump a glimpse of what God is like — and what we are called to be.” From mosques to monasteries, these saints are revealing a new world where hopeful environmental action happens on an individual, congregational, and community level.

In that spirit of hope, I present a roster of 10 religious-environmental saints. The first five have gained national and even international recognition, while the second list facial appearance spiritual leaders encountered in my own daily life. All 10 saints offer lessons for a new world, where congregations model the principles and practices of sustainable communities.

Five Saints of the World

The familiar tune “When the Saints Go Marching In” calls for a new day: “Oh, when the new world is revealed, oh, when the new world is revealed, Lord, I want to be in that number, when the new world is revealed.” These five saints have influenced my own belief that we must answer through faith to environmental degradation here on earth, rather than wait for heaven at St. Peter’s gates.

1. Rev. Sally Bingham: As a stay-at-home mom, the Rev. Sally Bingham questioned why clergy in her Episcopal church were not discussion about faith and the environment. As an ordained priest, she now serves as the founder and director of the Renaissance Project and Interfaith Potential and Light (IPL) Campaign, which provides a religious response to global warming. With IPL affiliates in 38 states, this campaign has become a powerful interfaith break down to address climate change.
2. Wangari Maathi: Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, Wangari Maathi’s work resulted in 20 million trees planted on farms, church compounds, and gardens in Kenya. The founder of the Green Belt Movement, Maathi started planting trees as a grassroots initiative to improve the lives of women and conserve the environment. She was the first female in East and Inner Africa to earn her doctorate degree and credits the Benedictine sisters with promoting her like of knowledge.
3. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: The leader of the Orthodox Church, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has earned the title of “the Green Patriarch.” He brought together scientists, religious leaders, and government officials for visits to major bodies of water in the world, including the Danube, the Amazon, and the Frosty, to integrate scientific and spiritual understandings of water.
4. Wendell Berry: From his farm near Port Royal, KY, Wendell Berry writes as a farmer and activist, challenging people of faith to do their convictions. Berry, who attends a local Baptist church, has criticized Christians as complacent about an economy that destroys the environment. His writings urge a “home economy” of raising food and animals through a life rooted in one place.
5. Rev. Mitch Hescox: When oil poured in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, the Rev. Mitch Hescox chose to walk from Waveland, Miss. to Venice, La. and pray with Gulf Coast residents affected by the spill. In 2009, he became president/CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Arrangement. This year, he also organized an 18-day walk from West Virginia to Washington, DC to bear witness to mountaintop removal sites and pray for victims of climate change.

Five Saints in my Life

“I Sing a Song of the Saints of God” was one of my grandmother’s pet hymns: “And one was a doctor and one was a queen, and one was a shepherdess on the green. They were all of them saints of God and I mean, God helping, to be one too.”

Religious-environmental saints are acting with conviction to conserve the seats I like. One is a writer, and one is a priest, and one is a mother, just like me. If I can find these saints in my small circles, these natural saints are among us all.

1. LeeAnne Beres: “A thousand acts of kindness can be wiped away with a single act of Congress,” says LeeAnne Beres, executive director of Earth Ministries in Washington State. Among its many programs, Earth Ministries provides training in environmental advocacy skills for congregations. This organization has brought together interfaith religious leaders and legislators in a campaign to transition the state from coal to clean energy by 2015.
2. Rev. John Rausch: In his work with the broad Committee on Appalachia, Father John Rausch has led countless tours of mountaintop removal sites for seminarians, community members, and interfaith groups. This Sept. 11, Rev. Rausch will lead an interfaith prayer service facing a mountaintop removal site to pray for jobs that build a just society and steward creation. He often ends these services by giving wildflower seeds to participants to scatter amid the rubble as a sign of hopeful action.
3. Jill Rios: Jill Rios and her daughter Aja worship at La Capilla de Santa Maria, where her husband is the priest for this Episcopal parish that ministers to Latino immigrants. With her leadership, La Capilla has weatherized the sanctuary, planted a garden, and built a cob oven as a microenterprise for parishioners. As the former director of North Carolina Interfaith Potential and Light, she also produced a program to weatherize 300 low-income homes and provide climate justice tours for congregations.
4. Rabbi Larry Troster: Rabbi Larry Troster fosters the next generation of religious-environmental saints through his leadership with the GreenFaith Fellowship program. This training builds the skills of interfaith leaders to care for creation using a framework of justice, spirituality, and stewardship. Based in New Jersey, GreenFaith also promotes initiatives such as solar panels on sanctuaries and an environmental certification program for congregations.
5. Will Harlan: A practicing Buddhist and environmental writer, Will Harlan lives off the grid with his wife and son on their farm in Western North Carolina. His spirituality connects him to the earth and to his avocation as an elite ultramarathoner in seats like the Appalachian Mountains and Cooper Canyon, Mexico. Last year, Harlan completed a 72-mile run in the Smoky Mountains to raise awareness about mountaintop removal.

Fans of the New Orleans Saints recite this song with a religious fervor: “Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say gonna beat dem Saints?” The call and response makes a potential greater than the individual voices in the stadium. Likewise, believers are making collective momentum from individual acts: one cob oven built, one interfaith service organized, one church garden tilled, one piece of legislation voted for.

Together, these people of faith represent a communion of saints rooted in God’s earth, but moving forward, one step at a time. And I mean to be one too.

Read more: Rev. John Rausch, New Orleans Saints, Saints, Rabbi Larry Troster, Environmentalism, LeeAnne Beres, Will Harlan, Environmental Saints, Jill Rios, Christianity, Religion News