I recently had an experience where I was told that I was
being investigated for a situation and that I had to provide the names of three
people who would be character witnesses for me. Immediately a scene from Drew
Barrymore’s movie, “Ever After,” came into my head. At the end of the movie the
evil stepmother is summoned to go before the king and queen. She is called out
for her crimes and sentenced to be shipped out of the country, “Unless, by some
miracle, someone here will speak for you,” says the queen. The stepmother looks
around the room as people shift uncomfortably and look away.
That scene flashed through my head and the only thing I
could think of was the people I couldn’t call as character witnesses. For a
minute I was overcome with this fear that, like the stepmother, I would be left
alone with no one to speak for me. Drew Barrymore’s character spoke for her
stepmother and then said, “All I ask is that you show her the same courtesy
that she has bestowed upon me.” The stepmother is then sentenced to do manual
labor with her equally wicked daughter.
I provided the names of a couple of people that I felt I
could rely on and then waited in fear for what would happen next. As I waited
for the investigation to take place, I began to talk to a few trusted souls
about what was going on. They were all appalled and immediately offered to be
character witnesses for me. I told one friend, “When I was asked to provide
three witnesses in favor of me, all I could think of …” “Was that everyone that
has ever met you would speak for you?!” my friend interrupted. I was taken
aback and almost began to cry. “Amy,” my friend said, “other than your ex, and
maybe a couple of people loyal to him, everyone who knows you would speak for
you.”
The investigation ended up being dropped but the experience
has stayed with me and it has taken time for the emotional trauma induced by
that experience to subside. Since then I have thought a lot about that movie, “Ever
After.” Mostly about the concept of being rewarded for your deeds, whether they
be good or whether they be evil.
I often wonder what my life would be like if Karma came full
circle. If everyone treated me today exactly how I have treated other people in
the last week, how would I feel? What would my day look like? How would I
behave differently if I knew for certain that tomorrow I would be equally
rewarded for everything I said and did today?
Jesus taught in Matthew 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever
ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law
and the prophets.
Hopefully I will never be in a situation again where I will
have to call character witnesses, but if I do, I hope that I have lived in such
a way that there will be many who will say, “I will speak for her!”
