For quite some time now, it has been my practice to start each day with a prayer that I might be a “channel of blessing to those with whom I come in contact “; also, to be a “lamp of the light of the Supreme”. I have raised my sons with the same thought as expressed by Edgar Cayce. That is, not just to be good, but rather, to be good for something. Applying this principle on a daily basis and trying always to adhere to my ideal – The Christ, it is only natural that spiritual assistance would be demonstrated in my work. There have been many examples of this.
The first that I recall at present occurred when I was a managing attorney. In this position I supervised other attorneys and also had my own caseload and other responsibilities. One day one of the attorneys I supervised brought me a tape that he thought I should hear. The tape involved a business transaction that was recorded and when matched with other information, might have been evidence of involvement in a crime that national authorities were investigating. The tape had been brought to the attorney by a business client and after looking into the matter the attorney brought the tape to me because the evidence seemed equivocal when analyzed. I was very busy at the time and could not look into the matter then, however, I agreed to take the tape home for the weekend and look into the matter then. As soon as I touched the tape, I knew that there was substance to the matter. It felt like I received an electric shock. The power was overwhelming. I decided to follow up on this and looked for objective evidence that might substantiate what I felt. I discovered a few things that appeared to corroborate my intuitive feelings, and called my supervisor. At first my supervisor did not share my view. However, after discussion of my reasons substantiating my view, my supervisor agreed that we should pass this information on to the appropriate investigating authorities. We did so and they were very interested. I do not know what occurred afterwards, but I am sure we did the right thing.
Another time I was investigating a sexual harassment matter that had been brought to the attention of my office. It involved gender persecution with horrible letters and other communications directed at individuals who were assumed to be homosexuals. The victims felt strongly that they knew who the perpetrator was and wanted the company to take action. Others were also calling for this person’s head. When I gathered the information and held the items with the intent as expressed in my daily prayers (above) and in accordance with my ideal, I felt strongly that the person targeted as the perpetrator was not the right one. I kept pressing for objective evidence to establish conclusively the identity of the perpetrator. I could not advise the company to take action against an individual that would severely damage this person’s professional as well as personal life, without strong evidence. Admittedly, there was enough evidence to strongly suggest culpability and the company’s actions would have been defensible, however, it did not “feel” right. Because of my pressing for further evidence and receiving spiritual guidance on where to look, evidence was discovered that exonerated the individual and led us to the real perpetrator.
Another incidence involved a case in litigation in which I was working with outside trial counsel. The case was a wrongful termination case in which the company had substantial evidence to discharge the employee. It was necessary however, to demonstrate before the decision-makers the former employee’s true character and personality. During the former employee’s cross-examination, the individual managed to come across as someone other than what we knew was the person’s true self. As I watched the individual’s testimony, I decided to do a quick “reading”, intuitively, to see what we should do. It came to me that if we continued as we were; the individual would reveal the true self at a certain time in the afternoon. My problem was how to approach outside counsel with this information. At lunch we discussed whether to change strategy in the cross-examination and the others (legal team) were not certain which way to go. I therefore presented a legal, rational reason for continuing until the time I “felt” would turn things around for us. I simply stated that I believed the individual was getting tired, and that if we continued for a time after lunch, the person would reveal their true self. This indeed occurred, and I was off by about 8 minutes. Counsel teased me about the 8 minutes, but we were all glad we proceeded as I suggested.
These are just a few of the many examples of applied spirituality in my work. There have also been times where creativity was sought and provided. There is no limit to what can be achieved when spiritual principles are applied.
