Article April 23, 2012 Issue

A spiritual lesson in traffic court

Susan Brown

Why was I here?

Sitting in traffic court, I kept asking myself that question. Three months earlier, I’d been stopped by a police officer after making a partial stop at the intersection in front of my church. That morning I’d been mentally looking ahead to a meeting at the Reading Room, and I just hadn’t completed the stop. I still wondered why I wasn’t given a warning or citation on the spot instead of a summons—but most of all, I pondered what spiritual lessons were to be learned here. The strong and potent answers I received impact practically everything I now do.

I spent the next two and half hours in court waiting for my turn, listening to the judge preside over case after case. She asked these questions of each individual: “Do you understand your legal rights? Do you understand the charge against you? Do you seek a trial? Have you of your own free will pleaded guilty?” When she got to, “Tell me what happened,” the stories emerged: “I was . . . and . . . because . . . .” All told of their circumstances, but only one of 50 or so pleaded “not guilty” and requested a trial. The rest of us admitted our guilt and received penalties.