Who will speak for me?

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!”