Article March 22, 1999 Issue

FATHERHOOD, FAMILY, AND THE PRACTICE OF LAW

Luci Daley Vincent

As a new attorney, I found myself advising and assisting clients of my parents' generation. At first, many people were struck by my youthful appearance. Others had never worked with a woman attorney before. It seemed that some of these clients doubted my ability before help. During this time, I found a Bible verse I had never noticed before in the story of Joseph (see Gen. chaps. 37-45). This verse provided an insight that has changed my view both of my work and of my family.

Out of jealousy, Joseph's brothers sell him to traders headed for Egypt. Though he experiences tribulation there, he ultimately rises to a position of considerable authority, reporting directly to Pharaoh. In this position Joseph successfully prepares the Egyptian people for a seven-year period of famine — so successfully, in fact, that they have enough bread to share with those from other countries. During the famine Joseph meets his brothers again and winds up consoling them for their mistreatment of him, explaining that "God did send me before you to preserve life." He even goes so far as to say that God "hath made me a father to Pharaoh."

Imagine: Joseph, the young Hebrew man who had been sold into slavery and spent time in jail, considers himself a father to the Egyptian leader. If Joseph, by trusting God's guidance, could become a father figure to Pharaoh, I reasoned that I, too, must have occasion to be a "father" to others.

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