"Have we lost touch with the heroic?" was one of the questions Gary Haugen posed to us.

Haugen, the president of International Justice Mission, spoke at a prayer breakfast for local Christian attorneys, law students, judges, etc. I had a chance to speak with him briefly afterwards. He's not as tall as I imagined him to be (I envisioned an intimidating, tall and broad figure. Still broad, though, and not too intimidating.) He was also engaging and extremely personable to a lowly first-year law student.

Haugen believes that God created in each of us a desire to be part of something larger than ourselves, to sacrifice ourselves for something worthy and good. We have a yearning to participate in the heroic. He thinks the legal profession has lost touch with the heroic. The legal profession is not the first one to come to mind when we ask, who are the heroes? Instead, we imagine firefighters or doctors. The impression is that there aren't any opportunities for lawyers to be heroic. His talk focused on three components that are important for maintaining a sense of the heroic in our lives.

First, a vision of the ennobling ideals of our calling or profession (he was speaking to lawyers, but analogized to doctors as well, and I think it can be applicable to any field.) What is that makes the calling good and worthy? For lawyers, to seek justice. For doctors, to bring healing. So many times, the process of becoming and being one beats us down so that we lose touch with these ideals and no longer believe in these ideals.

Second, a compassion for those that are suffering.

Third, help for the desperately needy. There is a spectrum of urgency in any field. Doctors treat complex sports injuries, perform plastic surgeries, save gunshot wound victims, etc. Often times we begin to serve only those who can afford such services, and consequently, the most needy are overlooked and forgotten. And yet, all around the world, the innocent, vulnerable and powerless are at the mercy of unrestrained evil. There are children sold to work their lives away in slavery conditions, young children displayed and used as commodities for pedophiles, and people imprisoned or executed because they are wrongfully charged, don't understand the legal system and have no advocate.

His message was inspirational, and a great reminder for asking myself, why am I doing what I'm doing? He didn't say that all of us need to be directly involved with human rights work, but as Christians, how are we to participate in the work of justice for the oppressed? Can we give our prayers, money or time to serve?