{"id":5051,"date":"2017-04-12T14:39:19","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T21:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/?p=5051"},"modified":"2017-04-12T15:51:15","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T22:51:15","slug":"april-12-2017-love-leads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/","title":{"rendered":"April 12, 2017 – When love leads"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \n \"Fb-Button\"\n <\/a>\n <\/div>
<\/fb:like><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/a>

Starting a new one – my first painting of tulips(!). The warm colors are a welcome change for me.<\/p><\/div>\n

Last week at dinner with a couple of the artists in the Friday group, the subject of jury duty came up and I found myself recounting the experience I had when I sat on a jury several years ago. \u00a0On trial was an undocumented woman from El Salvador, a mother of three who cleaned houses. \u00a0The charges against her came from an incident in a courtroom when her husband was being remanded into custody. \u00a0Sitting with her kids in the back of the courtroom, she ran up in protest when she saw him being brought to the ground \u2013 he was resisting arrest – and being restrained by several deputies. \u00a0She ignored the judge telling her to take her seat, prompting several other deputies to physically restrain her too. \u00a0She was forced to bend forward over the back of a courtroom seat, her head pushed so that her face was buried in the seat \u2013 with two more deputies holding each arm behind her back. \u00a0The charges against her included: contempt of court, resisting arrest and assault of a police officer \u2013 in the struggle, one of the deputies, a woman, was bruised on her forearm.<\/p>\n

I was amazed how easy it is to end up on a jury panel. \u00a0If your name is called for you to come up to sit in the jury box and if there aren\u2019t any questions the attorneys ask that would illicit an opportunity to reveal something they might object to, by default you are on the jury. \u00a0I thought that each potential juror would have been questioned for at least a few minutes, but after stating my only name and what I did for a living, just like that, I was on the jury. \u00a0The trial process was tedious and an inefficient use of the jurors\u2019 time. \u00a0We were there from 9am-5pm for something like three and a half days and were in the courtroom for maybe a total of 8 hours hearing the case. \u00a0There were long lunch breaks and we were left for hours in the jury room while the judge tended to other matters. \u00a0It was both fascinating and frustrating. \u00a0But the most challenging for me was the deliberation process.<\/p>\n

It was clear to me that this woman was not in any way a threat to society. \u00a0She had an emotional and very human reaction to a frightening situation. \u00a0Sure, there are people in her shoes who may have been able to restrain themselves, but what she did – in the scheme of all the crimes are put to a jury – seemed barely consequential. \u00a0It was bad enough that she had been handled so roughly (we were shown photos of the many large bruises on her arms), then she had been put in custody not knowing what was happening with her children and<\/em> then her husband was released from custody and left the country, leaving her to fend for herself and her kids. \u00a0It incensed me that the precious resources of a jury trial were being used this way. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t imagine why the District Attorney had pursued the case against her!<\/p>\n

When our foreperson asked us each to indicate where we were leaning on the charges I was the only one who expressed reservations in convicting her. \u00a0Yes, we were instructed to make our judgment based on the facts as presented and the law as it was described to us. \u00a0Based objectively upon that, I can see how the others came to their guilty conclusion \u2013 it was<\/em> clear she made a big ruckus in the courtroom. \u00a0But I could not help but look at the whole thing from a broader perspective and I saw no justice in convicting her. \u00a0I hoped that I might be joined by others \u2013 but none of my fellow jurors \u2013 some of whom were mothers \u2013 shared my perspective. \u00a0There were some tense moments as 11 other people looked at me, silently asking me if I was going to get in the way of having this whole thing be over with.<\/p>\n

The resolution arose after one man brought up the idea of a \u201cgrand bargain.\u201d \u00a0He asked me if I might be willing to find her guilty on the two lesser charges and not-guilty on the more grave charge of assaulting a police officer. \u00a0I sat with this for a minute or so, as they all waited on my response. \u00a0I realized that given the spirit of compromise in his question, I didn\u2019t have the guts to hold the deliberation up and I reluctantly agreed. \u00a0After the trial was over I met with the woman and her attorney on a bench by the windows outside the courtroom. \u00a0I asked why this case was even brought to trial. \u00a0Her attorney told me that if she had been convicted of the assault charge, the deputies who arrested her would have been immune to any charge she<\/em> might have brought against them for excessive use of force. \u00a0The best defense is a good offence. \u00a0As much as this made sense, it made me even sicker \u2013 and it made me feel used.<\/p>\n

For a few days afterwards I felt bruised. \u00a0I felt the injustice of a world that works to protect the powerful against the vulnerable. \u00a0I felt the loneliness of holding a stance based upon my heart\u2019s deepest knowing – within such a world. \u00a0And I longed for the strength to have held my ground. \u00a0I ask myself if I would have the strength now \u2013 I so want to believe that I would. \u00a0I know that if I do ever find myself as a potential juror again, I won\u2019t hesitate to speak up about this experience and the way it has eroded my faith in the criminal justice system in our county.<\/p>\n

This is holy week in the Christian world \u2013 the week we commemorate the last week of the earthly life of Jesus of Nazareth. \u00a0Standing my ground in a trial of an undocumented woman is small potatoes compared to his standing before Pontius Pilate and the Roman Empire. \u00a0He, in all his humanness, certainly had the courage to lead with love. \u00a0He teaches us to love our enemies, to care most for the least of us, to turn the other cheek. \u00a0We\u2019ve heard this many times, but putting it into practice is a whole other thing. \u00a0Take, say loving our enemies. \u00a0Love those who gas their citizens? \u00a0Love those on the opposite side of my politics? \u00a0Even love the guy on the trail who doesn\u2019t control his aggressive dog? \u00a0Loving no matter what is hard<\/em>! \u00a0And to do so often goes against what we\u2019d think would be better judgment. \u00a0But love is anything but rational.<\/p>\n

Leading with love – especially in some situations – can be a radical act. \u00a0It takes courage, it takes having a well of self-love to draw from and it takes being connected to something greater than us, greater than the whole situation. \u00a0It\u2019s that third force I\u2019ve been writing about lately \u2013 the one that delivers us to another dimension. \u00a0And as I work this path of becoming more aware and conscious, I see that living this way allows us to be truly free. \u00a0Not the kind of freedom that is provided by protective armies \u2013 or by any<\/em> kind of armoring, but the freedom of an uncompromised heart. \u00a0It\u2019s a long-term project to live this way – one that I\u2019m determined to continue to work on.<\/p>\n

After a weeks of a news fast, I\u2019m back to reading the paper \u2013 carefully – trying not to take in too much rancor. \u00a0I keep looking for anyone bringing in a broader, more loving perspective into the public discourse that I can hitch my hope to \u2013 There is a part of me looking for love to take the lead as it felt it would (for many of us) with the election of our last president. \u00a0But I’m seeing the world entirely differently now. \u00a0It appears that change must come from the ground up, rather than the top down. \u00a0I feel the call for love to lead us from within. \u00a0So, after my check-in with the world, I\u2019m getting myself right back to making beauty \u2013 as art, as making space for others to create in, as caring for people, as meals I cook \u2013 in any way I can. \u00a0It is when love leads that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.<\/p>\n

With my gratitude for the companionship of your love,<\/p>\n

Cara<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week at dinner with a couple of the artists in the Friday group, the subject of jury duty came up and I found myself recounting the experience I had when I sat on a jury several years ago. \u00a0On trial was an undocumented woman from El Salvador, a mother of three who cleaned houses. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nApril 12, 2017 - When love leads - Life in Full Color<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"April 12, 2017 - When love leads - Life in Full Color\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week at dinner with a couple of the artists in the Friday group, the subject of jury duty came up and I found myself recounting the experience I had when I sat on a jury several years ago. \u00a0On trial was an undocumented woman from El Salvador, a mother of three who cleaned houses. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Life in Full Color\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-12T21:39:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-04-12T22:51:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tulips-WIP-4-12-17.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/\",\"name\":\"April 12, 2017 - When love leads - Life in Full Color\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tulips-WIP-4-12-17.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-12T21:39:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-12T22:51:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tulips-WIP-4-12-17.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tulips-WIP-4-12-17.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"April 12, 2017 – When love leads\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/\",\"name\":\"Life in Full Color\",\"description\":\"Watercolors by Cara Brown\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393\",\"name\":\"Cara\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cara\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/author\/cara\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"April 12, 2017 - When love leads - Life in Full Color","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"April 12, 2017 - When love leads - Life in Full Color","og_description":"Last week at dinner with a couple of the artists in the Friday group, the subject of jury duty came up and I found myself recounting the experience I had when I sat on a jury several years ago. \u00a0On trial was an undocumented woman from El Salvador, a mother of three who cleaned houses. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/","og_site_name":"Life in Full Color","article_published_time":"2017-04-12T21:39:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-04-12T22:51:15+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tulips-WIP-4-12-17.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Cara","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cara","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/","name":"April 12, 2017 - When love leads - Life in Full Color","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tulips-WIP-4-12-17.jpg","datePublished":"2017-04-12T21:39:19+00:00","dateModified":"2017-04-12T22:51:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tulips-WIP-4-12-17.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/tulips-WIP-4-12-17.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/april-12-2017-love-leads\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"April 12, 2017 – When love leads"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/","name":"Life in Full Color","description":"Watercolors by Cara Brown","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393","name":"Cara","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cara"},"url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/author\/cara\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1uJKT-1jt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5051"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5062,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051\/revisions\/5062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. The constant WPCACHEHOME must be set in the file wp-config.php and point at the WP Super Cache plugin directory. -->