*My interview at Spectrolab went well, I think...I didn't have any major slip-ups or clashes with the people I interviewed with. I should hear whether I got the job tomorrow or Friday! Thanks for praying.*
So when I got off the phone with the jury service automated reporting service on Monday night, I was pretty mopy, slightly grumpy, all-of-the-sudden exhausted...in short, I was sinful, because in my heart I was rebelling in the plan that God had for me for Tuesday, March 7, 2009: my first round of jury duty.
Brent was sympathetic and hugged me for a minute or two. After my mopiness and slight grumpiness turned excessive, he pretty much told me to snap out of it. :) Good man.
Didn't quite snap out of it until the next morning, when I decided I wanted to dress stylishly, do my hair cute and wear make-up just in case the case turned out to be watched by the media and I might be caught on camera by the press. That is the first demonstration of the romantic ideas swimming around in my head.
I parked my car in Burbank and as I walked to the courthouse a lady who noticed the jury summons in my hand joined me. She was summoned also, and we struck up a conversation. I found out that she was an actress named Cindie who had participated in a number of independent films. I thought to myself how many famous actors/actresses had served on juries, and how funny it would be to witness a judge refer to someone like Harrison Ford by his juror id number rather than his well-known name, as they do in courtrooms. Sure enough, as I sat down in the jury assembly room, pictures were posted along the walls of "famous people" who had served on juries before. Harrison Ford was the most well-known among them.
In the assembly room I sat next to a man of about 30 years of age. We sat side by side in that room for an hour or two without having any sort of a conversation, as he was reading magazines and I was ferociously reading a book assigned in my history class. After sitting through a video tape that was our orientation, both of us received orders that we were needed at the Glendale courthouse rather than the one we were at in Burbank, along with 30 something of our fellow prospective jurors. We weren't needed in Glendale until 1:20, and it was at that time only about ten.
I drove to Glendale, parked where we were told to do so as jurors, and then walked to find a Starbucks in order to pass the time. I ordered a non-fat cinnamon dolce latte, no whip (I'm becoming a big fan of those lattes), and sat down at a table to continuing reading my book. A business man sat down close by me, and for the two hours that we were there, it was one of those awkward situations where our eyes would randomnly and accidentally meet every few minutes or so. I don't know why that embarrasses me so. After about fifteen minutes I was sure he thought I was watching him for some reason as he went along his business and I continued reading my book on Communism. When I realized that there were quite a few eats I needed to record for that day in my little calorie-counting notebook I keep in my purse, I thought how funny it would be if I recorded my calories in such a way that made it look like I was taking notes on the guy...what if he followed me out of the store, grabbed me by my collar, slammed me against the wall, and asked, "HOW did you find me???? HOW do you know what I'm up to????"
:) Demonstration #2 of the fantastical ideas floating in my brain.
So I walked into the Glendale jury assembly room at about 1 o'clock. I saw the thirty-something man I had sat next to in Burbank had a seat open next to him, so in hopes of being able to strike up a conversation with him I plopped down next to him again with a "Hi!"
Sure enough, a get-to-know-you conversation started. It only took him a minute or two to ask the right questions to find out that I study astrophysics. He was amazed. He told me I would be a good person to ask a bunch of questions he had. Usually I hate when people do that. Usually the questions they ask involve theories and principles that I have heard of and yes, maybe even worked with a bit in my scientific education, but that I don't know or remember enough of to answer questions with a due amount of credibility.
Not this time. This time the questions revolved around my "specialty" (ok, let's say "interest" rather): black holes.
With every question that I answered with a thorough explanation and further example, the more amazed he was that he was sitting next to an astrophysicist. Eager to not continue down this road which seemed to be getting nowhere for the sake of the gospel, I asked him what he did for a living. He hesitated, and then sheepishly said he worked at UPS. Responding to my instinct point out all of the similarities or relations between me and the person I'm talking to, I quickly answered, "Oh yeah, my dad used to work there."
A light bulb went off in my head....of course! This was the lead in to the conversation about my faith!
"Yeah, he worked there back in the seventies while he was getting through seminary."
He told me that he currently had a friend who worked at UPS who was also working through seminary, at a big seminary in the valley.
"Masters?" I asked.
"No, no, it's at a big church on Coldwater Canyon and Roscoe."
"Yeah, that's Masters at Grace Community Church."
"Grace Community Church. That's it," he said, nodding.
We got it cleared up that the seminary at the church is called Masters Seminary.
Anyways, I'm so thankful because it sounds like this friend of his at UPS has been faithful in sharing the gospel with this guy. This guy has not been swayed, he still maintains that he is extremley non-religious, but he really respects how his friend is so steadfast in his faith. Nothing can shake him. Even scientific "evidence" against his faith.
"He tries to tell me we all came from Adam and Eve, but I'm like, 'Dude, you can't just ignore the evidence of evolution.' He doesn't even believe in cavemen! You can't disregard all the evidence!"
I asked, "By evidence you mean things like cave paintings, and..."
"Yeah, cave paintings and skulls."
I smiled, not sure where I was going to go next, but trusting God to speak through me, I opened my mouth and told him the little I knew about such evidence. "I'm not sure how I feel about all of that 'evidence,' I said, making quotation marks with my fingers. "I've seen so many situations where scientists bend the data to fit what they want to believe. Like there was one situation where they thought they had found the skeleton of a missing link between apes and humans, simply because the bones they found could be put together in such a way that the 'link' would have the ability to walk on all fours. At the same time, the bones could also be arranged so that the body would have walked just like any other human. So I don't see that as a triumph in finding a 'missing link.'"
He sat back, looked up at the ceiling with meditative eyes, and said, "Oh..." I wasn't sure whether he had more arguments or facts to what I said and just didn't want to get into it, or if what he had just heard had actually caused some questioning of his own position.
A few minutes passed and he exclaimed, "Wow, I drove past Grace Community Church one Sunday morning and there were just massive swarms of people there! It blew any Catholic mass I've ever been to out of the water! Is John MacArthur really inspirational or something?"
I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. I wonder how MacArthur would respond to a question like that. "No, no, I wouldn't say so...not in the way 'inspirational' is used in the world today. He definitely doesn't look out at the congregation and say, 'Oh, you're just all such good people, God just loves you, you're ALL goin' to Heaven.' The Bible has some pretty harsh, tough words, and John just explains to us what's in it. For people who know and love God's truth in the Bible, then yeah, John's messages are very inspirational."
By the way he responded to my answer, I wanna say he understood what I was getting at. I think his evangelistic friend at work has been very thorough.
There wasn't much more to the conversation from there, but I came away praising God at the way He had brought about our discussion, and for allowing me to be a further example to him of what God's been showing him through his friend at work.
We were soon asked into the courtroom, and the real work of our service started. After observing an afternoon's worth of legal proceeding of California's justice service, I found myself thanking God that He allowed me to be a part of this country where there are such honorable methods of conducting fair trials for those accused. I'm in a history class that has exposed me to some of the legal proceedings that have gone on in other countries throughout the world since 1945, and as I sat in that courtroom yesterday I noted a great difference, more love of honesty and justice than many situations I have read about this semester.
Today was my second day of service, and as of 3:45 pm I am officially on the jury. Somehow I really don't mind that it's gonna take up the rest of my spring break and beyond. I'm excited about the conversations I've had with my fellow jurors and eager to follow up with them. And doing my part in the justice system seems more like a privilege than it did before.
