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Hi, I’m Mike of Patton & Patton, and today, initially wanted to do a video showing you all our office and talking a little bit about our practice, but I got stuck. I got stuck because here we’re about justice. We strive to use our legal talents and abilities to help injured people seek justice. We take that responsibility seriously. We take justice seriously. We believe in the American Judicial system, and its function to give access to justice to all Americans. 

Mike Patton

One of the reminders of our commitment to Justice is the first thing we look at when we walk in our office. It’s a painting of St. George and the Dragon. St. George and the Dragon is a story about justice. The Dragon was oppressing the people and requiring ever increasing sacrifices of them, eventually requiring human sacrifices. St. George comes upon the scene, sees the injustice, and immediately vows to help. St. George charges the dragon and impales him with his lance. In some versions of the story St. George even tames the beast.

We’re committed to use our talents and our abilities to seek justice like St. George. However, dragons and justice are more complicated now than they were in 3rd century legends.

You can’t have a discussion of justice today without hitting on some pretty serious and touchy issues of justice. At Patton and Patton, our standard of justice comes from the Bible. We are committed to seeking justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God.  (Micah 6:8) To us the call of seeking justice is tied to the Gospel. Jesus calls the underserved, the weak, the underprivileged, the outcasts, the castaways and cutouts in society. Jesus calls them in, and he invites them into his Kingdom. The gospel of Jesus is the story of hero who comes down to earth and sacrifices himself to defeat sin and death and injustice and so that we can be forgiven and come into a relationship with God. Once we have that relationship and that forgiveness and right standing with God our heart begins to change. God’s kingdom begins inside of the forgiven heart. We don’t have to hold on to anger, fear, doubt, shame. We can then turn around justified before god and spread God’s message of love, forgiveness, mercy and justice to the underserved.

There are those in our society who are hurting. They’re scared. They are crying out for justice, and for mercy. They are angry. They feel hopeless. But my God is a God of Hope. What gives hope is that there is a God who moves in times like these. A God who has a special care for those who are oppressed. A God who knew the world would see times like these. A God who loves the widows and the orphans and the oppressed. 

 As a Christian, I need to add my voice and say what has been happening to the black community is not justice, its certainly not mercy and if we value justice, If we value mercy and peace, this needs to be acknowledged. Their deaths are an assault on all human dignity. We, Christians, are supposed to be like Jesus. We are supposed to offer hope to those who need it most. For me, I want to stand for justice for those who have been innocent and killed. To stand for those who have been oppressed, for people who don’t have hope. We can use our voices and our talents to lend support to the downtroaden. That’s where the gospel and the teachings of Jesus lead us.

If this doesn’t make sense to you or you have a different view than me, send me a message. I would love to have a conversation, but for me it starts with the gospel, and as Jesus’s message of hope infects our hearts we can start to have peace in our own lives and in the broader community around us.