Sheep and cattle surrounding the baby Jesus in the manger. Wise men, shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, a chorus of angels and all that stuff. Even if you don’t go to church or accept the basic premises of Christianity, one should admit the Christmas story is a sweet one. If you dig a little deeper, however, the tale is not so warm and fuzzy. At the most basic level, think about giving birth in a smelly barn. You’re not even near home. You’re there because the Roman occupiers have directed you to be there for a census. Being at the end of pregnancy is no excuse. The local power structure was threatened by this birth. King Herod ordered the death of all boys under two. Joseph, Mary, and the baby fled. It took them awhile to get back to their home in Nazareth. No, I am not trying to spoil anyone’s Christmas. Joseph and Mary lived in hard times. We live in hard times. Everyone who has lived since that Christmas morning 2000 years ago has lived in hard times. Hard times is the nature of our existence. Humans are not perfect. Our capacity for evil and wrongdoing is seemingly endless. Just consider what Herod ordered. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that people are just hard wired to be bad. Now you are really convinced I am doing a downer on Christmas. No one is perfect. Life is not perfect. It never has been. Yet, for all our capacity for evil, it is also clear that we are hard wired for good. That is an odd dichotomy, but it explains why people have sought justice through the whole history of civilization. We seek to right wrongs and redress grievances. People long for a better and more fair world. Which brings me to my point. At Rawls Law Group, we seek justice for our clients. No. We can’t change the gross injustices of the world. I wish we could. Our focus is a narrow one. We help patients and their families who have suffered because of medical errors. We help those who have been injured by vaccines. We particularly try to help veterans and military families. Our FTCA practice is nationwide. We have made a difference in the lives of hundreds of families. We have brought them some measure of justice. Their lives might still be hard, but we have made those lives a little bit better. We try to do what is right for our clients. We try to treat everyone who contacts us with kindness and respect. Are we perfect? Of course not. No one ever has been. I don’t think it’s so ridiculous to say that what we do as malpractice lawyers is give hope to people who might not have much hope. The Christmas message is really about hope. We try to do our part all year. Merry Christmas from all of us at Rawls Law Group.
