Last week, I was summoned to jury duty for the first time in my life. Like many people I didn't think it would be fun to be part of the jury. My life has been quite busy with 2 to 3 jobs and a young child,so my thought was if wasn't picked it would be good.
As the hours and minutes past, I waited along with the other potential jurors. I love the diversity of the crowd. I had a chance to talk to several people and found their lives very interesting.
We were finally called to go into a courtroom. There was suddenly a sense of formality about the situation. Everyone became more attentive, quietly listening to the instructions given by the bailiffs. As the last one of us sat down, the Judge spoke into the microphone, "Good morning. Thank you for sacrificing your time to be here," the judge said. As the judge continued to describe how jurors are an important part of the judical process, I began to become very interested in become one. I thought to myself that I could learn a lot about myself, learn more about our system of justice and maybe making a friend or two.
The defendant, who sat diagonally from us, looked very intimidating. He kept looking straight at us. As the judge read the charges against the defendant, I began to feel a strange feeling about being responsible for his judgement. I started to think who am I to put a judgement on this person, his crimes and sins, should be judge by a higher Being.
I started to feel so small, humidity struck and as I was tearing up, the judge call my name, i went up to the bench and told the judge that I didn't think I am suitable to srve because I can't being myself to put a judgement on a fellow man, even though he was suspected to have committed some of the most heinous crimes, I still felt strongly that he should be judge by his God.
I understand that it sounds like a good excuse to get out jury duty, but that wasn't my intention. I was just expressing a strange moment of awakening that I often have every now and then.
