Merry (belated) Christmas

My aplogies.  I had some last minute Christmas shopping to do which took precedence over blogging - just ask my three children.  My wife and I, for the first time in a long while, stuck to a very modest budget for Christmas.  It felt really good to keep our priorities in line.  After all, Jesus Christ was the ultimate gift and our custom of exchanging gifts is only a pale shadow of His example. 

I know that the politically correct thing would be to talk about the holiday season without mentioning the origin of Christmas.  It would even be more acceptable to name Chanukahh or Kwanzaa than to discuss Christmas as the day we recognize Jesus’ birth.  However, political correctness has been the slowest lesson for me to learn.  I do honor everyone’s right to choose their own spiritual and religious beliefs and I expect the same in return but that has nothing to do with political correctness. 

Anyway, one of the biggest imports of Christmas, and to a lesser extent New Year, is to examine our priorities and refocus on giving and service.  Lawyering is a service profession although the jokes indicate otherwise.  We have an honorable code of ethics that can be entirely consonant with the core principles of Christianity (and I would venture to guess with other religions though my knowledge is limited).  During this season, I urge my colleagues to revisit their ethical base and remember that ours is a service profession.