What depositions taught me about faith

Last week at work we (the summer associates) had to take mock depositions. I'm not interested in being a litigator, and hopefully will never be involved in another deposition in my life, but this one was mandatory as part of the summer program. I really did not want to do it, but I did it, and it was just as awful as I'd imagined and I was just as awful at it as I imagined.

There was a partner observing each group, and when I finished taking my deposition he launched into a speech about how when you're trying a case you need to have a theory of the case. I had heard this before, of course, and I thought I had a theory of the case, but I wasn't sure how to use that theory in the context of a deposition. The partner explained that everything you do has to be centered around that theory of the case - it informs your purposes for the deposition, the questions you ask, and how you ask the questions you ask.

I thought about that for awhile, and on the T ride home I thought how great an analogy that is for life generally. My "theory of the case" is like my faith. And it should inform everything Ido. That's very hard, just like it is in the deposition situation; I have to be really intentional about it. And just like in the deposition, sometimes I forget to put it at the center, or I don't understand how something fits in. But that doesn't change the fact that it should be the very core of my life.

Just a thought . . .