Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Doing My Civic Duty

I'm on jury duty this week.  And this is, quite frankly, not my favorite thing.  It interrupts my routine, and I don't like that very much.  Sitting and waiting for my name to be called, or not, is boring.  The seats are very uncomfortable.......and that's an understatement!

But it is my civic duty.  Or, to put it another way, the way the judge refers to it, jury duty is a privilege and obligation of citizenship.

When you put it that way, my attitude changes a little.  Yes, I'm still whining about having to be there, sitting in a courtroom on beautiful days like today.  But when I stop and think about how many millions of people around the world are denied this privilege, about how many wish they could have a jury trial, I feel ashamed to be such a whiner.

Living in this country is a privilege, a blessing.  Even with all our problems and all that needs to be changed, being an American citizen is a great privilege.  And with privilege comes responsibility.

I didn't get selected for yesterday's trial, so was dismissed early.  I, and the others in the jury pool whose names weren't called, will report back this afternoon.  I'm glad to have the morning free, to be able to ease into the day.  That always works better for me!  I'm thankful to be able to linger over another cup of coffee.  Thankful not to be rushing around.

Just thankful for so many things this morning.  Especially thankful to be an American.  Even thankful for the privilege of jury duty!

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."  (Colossians 3:17 ESV)

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