Yesterday, I attended an event hosted by Redeemer Presbyterian Church featuring a conversation between renowned Redeemer Pastor Tim Keller and my own personal hero Bryan Stevenson, author of “Just Mercy” and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.

I have been looking forward to this event for months, because I view these two men as my spiritual mentors.  Through their books (and Keller’s sermons), they have guided me in my life, both personally and for my vocation.  I participated in numerous book clubs for Keller’s books (“The Reason for God,” “The Meaning of Marriage,” and “Every Good Endeavor”), and he’s helped shape my outlook on my faith, marriage, and my career/calling. And as I mentioned before, Stevenson’s “Just Mercy” spoke deeply to my heart on the topic of social justice and was one of the main drivers of considering law school.

Though I heard Stevenson speak last year at the Brooklyn Historical Society (and I’ve listened to his numerous talks/interviews online), I still felt moved and inspired hearing the same stories that I’ve heard before. He told the familiar, but still gut-wrenching narratives of condemned death row prisoners he’s helped to exonerate and the ones he couldn’t save.  He gave us applications for our own lives to help and serve those in need as he spoke to the power of proximity, changing our deeply ingrained narratives, placing ourselves in uncomfortable situations, but ultimately staying hopeful through it all.

When it came to the book signing portion of the evening, I was so nervous and excited I could hardly contain myself.  I couldn’t believe I was finally able to meet the man who had such a deep impact on my life.  The last time I met someone I truly admired (Poet Billy Collins), I acted like a bumbling idiot, so I knew I had to be focused. When it was my turn to get my book signed, I feverishly shared with him how his book had changed my life and how I’ll be attending law school because of him.  I also told him I’ll be attending NYU and will be taking his courses/clinic; I didn’t just tell him I hoped to… I said (very definitively) that I would.  He was very kind and gracious to my frantic clamor and sent me off by saying “See you in class!”

Some excerpts from Stevenson’s book:

“Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I’ve come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.”

“There is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy. When you experience mercy, you learn things that are hard to learn otherwise. You see things you can’t otherwise see; you hear things you can’t otherwise hear. You begin to recognize the humanity that resides in each of us.”

“The power of just mercy is that it belongs to the undeserving. It’s when mercy is least expected that it’s most potent—strong enough to break the cycle of victimization and victimhood, retribution and suffering. It has the power to heal the psychic harm and injuries that lead to aggression and violence, abuse of power, mass incarceration.”