Bar Exams, the Legal Profession and Your God
The bar exam result is usually released, by design or sheer coincidence, after the Holy Week. This makes the Holy Week reflections more meaningful, I guess. Regardless of one’s faith or religion, each one prays to his/her God. Each one implores his/her God to be in the 18% or so examinees who’ll make it. It would seem it’s a matter of who is closer to his/her God or whose God is more powerful.
To sweeten the deal, so to speak, it’s not uncommon for the examinee to make a pact with his/her God that if he/she makes it, he/she will do this or do that. More often than not, that pact involves an undertaking to make a positive change in the legal profession and the society in general. Help the poor. Help the oppressed. Seek the truth. Dispense justice.
It’s so easy to make those promises. The more difficult part is actually passing the bar exams. The MOST difficult part, after passing the bar exams, is keeping the promise. The new lawyer will be faced with the imperfections of the legal profession. There will be temptations. There will be legal issues, but that’s not the difficult part.
The life-changing decisions are made with respect to moral dilemmas. When you see injustice, what will you do? When you are about to become a part of injustice, what will you do? When the circumstances require you to do something contrary to the promise you once made to your God, what will you do? How will you justify breaking your pact?
If you get to this part, you must be thinking these are all rubbish. Of course I will keep my promise to God, you say. Of course I will not become a part of, and will stand against, injustice. Of course I will not do anything contrary to the rules of ethics. Of course I will pursue justice with all my heart. These are your answers today.
Three years after taking your lawyer’s oath, please drop by again and tell me if your answers are still the same. In the meantime, enjoy the summer vacation.
Making a pact with God seems to be a common tact of people who are faced with what appears to them to be an insurmountable situation. I have also done my share of promises during those times when I feel overwhelmed by the problems I had.
Making promises to God is something that is not confined to barristers alone. An example would be the people who fill the long queue in a lotto betting station. In their mind runs a whole lot of promises if only their wish for financial blessing will be granted through the winning number combination of their bet.
I remember a former classmate in college who once worked as chief security officer of a classy and high end department store in Makati. He related to me that he has caught a not so few thieves, particularly pickpockets, who have either a rosary, stampita or religious relic in their wallets. Do these pickpockets “pray” before they make a hit? Taking off from your blog, it might be that they even promised the Almighty that they will not steal anymore and this one hit they will make now is their last.
Your blog is timely. Our prayer life should not necessarily include promises that we will have to perform when our prayers are answered. Most importantly, we should live right now in our lives the promises we intend to say in our prayers whether or not we are praying for something from the Lord.
The sad part is that these promises are silently made in order to entice God to answer favorably to one’s prayers. Most people somehow entertain the notion that if they do good or they promise to do good, their prayers will be heard. Many see God as an old guy with a long beard who can be fooled with sweet words. God knows the heart. “He need no testimony of man about man since He knows the contents of man’s heart”. The Proverbs say, “the heart is deceitful above all, who can cure it?”
How then should a bar hopeful pray? He should pray that God will change his heart to see what is God’s will in the area of justice. Justice came from God since He is the God of justice. We have a sense of what is fair because God placed it in us; without this sense of fairness this world will be in chaos. A lawyer, is an agent of God in the dispensation of His justice. At least, this was the original view from the time the idea of justice was conceived. Hence, the legal profession is indeed a noble profession as many say it. Sadly, the constant enticement of material gain blurs our view of justice and the legal profession. If a bar hopeful see himself this way, who knows, God will hear his prayers.
Amen!
I plead guilty to this “pact making” when i first took the exam in 2004. I prayed but set my own conditions; i prayed based on what i wanted to become not on what God wanted me to become; and i prayed with half-faith and half-doubt.God never answered my prayers and i became resentful. I have doubted HIS existence and questioned HIS wisdom. I asked myself, “why couldn’t HE allow me to become a lawyer when HE knows what my intentions are?”
But as the pain of defeat was fading, and i began to see HIS wisdom through clear and unprejudiced eyes, I couldn’t thank HIM so much for that failure. My faith now is borne out of that failure; and it was indeed a beautiful journey to faith.
And now my faith is telling me that when we pray, we pray with all humility. God sees what is in our hearts, and we should not dictate the terms nor impose our own conditions. It is for HIM to define. And if our faith is strong enough to move mountains, we would perfectly TRUST HIS WISDOM, because HIS delay does not mean denial.
Now i pray that whatever HIS verdict is come Friday, i would continue to grow in faith. And if HE answered YES, i would not be too wary of breaking any pact that is motivated not by the dictates of good conscience. I dont need to make a pact with HIM and break HIS heart when i cannot keep that covenant.
We dont need to become a lawyer, a politician, a doctor or a priest for us to do good deeds i.e. helping the poor, the oppressed; seek and stand up for the truth, dispense justice, etc. Good deeds are also made everyday by ordinary people.
And good works are motivated by good conscience.REGARDLESS OF PROFESSION, the dictates of good conscience should be our most potent weapon against the constant enticement of material gains and wordly temptations. Difficult as it may seem but this is having FAITH on our capacity to transcend “evil” and go back to the very core of our being-that is, “MAN (and WOMAN) as inherently good.”
This life is not all about MONEY and FAME. Way way beyond all these material existence is our ardent desire to re-connect ourselves to a HIGHER PURPOSE; to live a life with MEANING; and to experience HAPPINESS that is not materially-defined but anchored to a CAUSE GREATER THAN OURSELVES.
its crazy that we seem to have diferent gods but still right for we’ve got plenty and many are not aware of it. first is the god full of curses and the god full of mercy. like the bar faith cannot be earned and realized for just a day it must stand the test of time in order to be worthy. moreso, prayer is not something asked but something given for free for when life was brought to us it is given freely. can we repay God if He is the source of everything we receive and if what is asked is not granted can we asked god to repay us of good deeds done as if He is indebted us. remember that there are two will dominating in this world even in the legal profession. one is the will of satan and the will of god and the lord said satan is from the beginning a liar and a murderer. which will are you into? let’s find out for if you say the lord is with me and you’re mind speaks badly against your neighbor then you’re extremely vain. remember brethren that the lord will not perform us a miracle if we did not do our part during the preparation for before you had asked He already knows the desires of your heart.Just make your promises with the lord for He knows if the promise is genuine. i hope you’re enlightened as much as i do and don’t mind atty. fred he is only scaring us. have a blessed day
My God is a God of all ages. He is a God from whom all good things come. He is a God who listens and who knows what is best for us. Prayer is one of the best ways of communicating Him.
Go nearer to Him, talk to Him, and He will listen to you. Like a good Father, He said, “Ask… and it will be given unto you. Seek… and you shall find… Knock… and the door will be opened unto you.” So clear then, that He does not need our promises in order for Him to “give in” to what our hearts desire. Just “ask, seek and knock.” For after all HE knows us in and out! HE knows what we want, He knows what is best for us!
But of course, being a kind God, He gave us the freedom to do what we want. As if He is saying, “go ahead and make your day.” So we did things which we believe are best for us. But, somehow, there are plans in our lives which seemed to be in the contrary to His plans. It is here that most of the time conflict will arise. Like now, why did He allowed us to take the Bar exam if after all only a few are destined to succeed? The answer is… FREEDOM. Taking the bar exam is not evil, so he allowed us to take it. But of course, the last say is HIS! We are so damn scared if what HIS answer is in the negative! Hence, human as we are, we sometimes make a pact with HIM just for Him to reconsider. Yes, this pact is unnecessary of course. As I had said He knows us! (If only we hear Him, He might have said, “Lumang tugtugin na yan anak!”) But why did most of us insist of doing this? Well, before, His people do the same thing and it seemed very effective that it sounded that God will always grant what they are asking! How? They will sometimes were sack clothes, shave their heads, made an offering just to please Him. He even made a parable which conveyed a message that no father will not give in to his children’s plea if these children insist of asking for it.
I guess, it is but alright to make promises, provided that you can make it. If there such a thing as moderate greed, then there should be a moderate promise also. Meaning, just make a pact which you can do… however, it is a no no to make promises calling Him as the witness (In the name of God I promise… )coz that sounds unforgivable if you fail to do it.
In fine, to make a pact with God in order for us to make it is not necessary. But if one feel good if he do it, then go…! But one has to rremember that sometimes His plans are not the same as our plans… Yes, we have freedom but His will will always be done!
A blessed day to all…
Guys and gals malapit na!! question lang is it possible to learn it advance the result of the bar exam? since there are unverified info who top the exam and the likes? tnks.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
It’s nearing,feeling like judgement day!As if crossing the road of fire without burning or had been roasted.
What a feeling!!!!!
Oh GOD, never again please, please,please………………………….!!!!
A made a great promise to serve the poor and i’ll fulfill such promise. So please ONE TIME ONLY for it’s quite a penitence to repeat it, i got sick taking it.
I hope though all of us cannot pass the bar at the same year but for us all to become future God Fearing Lawyers not very good liars in order to win cases.
Break a leg to my friends and batch who took the 2007 bar exams!!! may the force be with you.
I would advise our new lawyers to watch the movie “The Rainmaker”(based on John Grisham’s novel)specially the last part when Matt Damon says that in every lawyer’s career, he will have to choose whether to cross that line between what’s right and what’s wrong. For others who have crossed it so many times, the line has disappeared. They are nothing more than sharks swimming in dirty water. Good luck to all new lawyers !!!
I used to say my prayers with conditions and a whole lot of promises and end it with Thy will be done. Looking back,with my kind of prayer am I allowing God’s will, or am I making my demands. I still have to unlearn a lot of things when it comes to praying. At this point, I am thinking that the Lord understands each prayer that we make, the reasons why we lay down our pact with Him. We may at some point forget our promises but He would never use it against us. During the times when we ran out of words to reveal our thoughts, He knows all. We all just have to rely on His promises, He definitely has a plan for us. God bless to all those who are waiting for the results, I am too. May His will be done!
Almost a year after becoming a lawyer I broke the promises I made many times over. I feel guilty of course. However, the pact I made earlier did not go down the drain for it serves as a solid moral buffer against which I reflect how sinful I have become. It serves as a rope that ties me so that I will not fall completely into the fire, a rope that might one day help me on my way up to redemption.
im awaiting for the results to come..
thy will be done lord… thy will be done.
hope you all pray that your wishes come true…
God Bless everyone!
God bless na lang sa lahat nang nag-take! Sana makapasa din ako – but that would be around 6-7 years from now. Wehehehehehe! >:-)
If its any relief, the most fulfilling cases i’ve handled so far are those which i firmly believe to be true to my oath. As for the others, i let my boss sign them. its his case anyway. he he he…. The sad thing about this profession is that your exposed to all d graft and corruption out there.Even if you avoid it , chances are you’ll be a victim of it! As Darth Vader once said “you dont know the power of the Dark side” So, again good luck to all new lawyers!!!
For me I asked God to lend me his holy spirit or to send me an angel while takig the exams, coz I know for myself that I can’t do anything anymore at that time, just like in the movie “the notebook” – They say that science has its limitations, beyond that its’s God. I promised God that I will continue serving Him, whatever outcome of the result for me, I will continue to praise him. And I always thank Him for sharing to me this gift of life, where I can still prove myself, my worth.
I agree that it is too idealistic to make promises with Him, but it is also important to do that especially in prayers, since this is the time where we intimately talk to God about all the things we want and need to convey to Him.
It is the purity of our heart and the strength of our faith that giveth life to our prayers, and if we accept that God knows when such prayers should be granted, we will never be disappointed nor despair.
If we would be able to break our promises with Him, I believe that He is still giving us the chance and the time to fulfill whatever we told Him. Let us give ourselves that benefit.
Too all of us who took the exams, our journey will not stop by the release of the result, but it is the beginning of a new task reposed to us. So grab on to whatever lies in front of us and be merry for these are all God’s kindness to us.
i pray hard for ms. ruth balita.
i hope you make it this time.
Its almost a year since I took the oath, and to date I am glad that I have not encountered any “life-changing decisions with respect to moral dilemmas” but its too early to tell. I dread the day, that I will be faced with one.
After all the excitement of seeing my name in the list, parang nakakalungkot lang, to witness how imperfect the legal profession are sometimes…
I would like to thank this site, for helping me survive last year’s tension…. .
To the 2007 barristers, goodluck and God Bless.
Warrior, very well said. Your comments are always worth reading.
Edmund, I’m not scaring anyone, just a food for thought. On the other hand, I feel it’s really improper to assume that, although He knows everything, He already knows the desires of our hearts and we should not ask. Didn’t He tell us to ask, and it shall be given . . .? Peace. =)
Raldr, you’re in your first years. Two years to go and, hopefully, this site is still up by then so we could read what you have to say. =)
Everyone, good luck and God bless.