My parents believed that the Lord worked in mysterious ways and while I have struggled with my own religious doubts and beliefs, there are stories that sometimes cause me to wonder.
My good friend, Evelyn Stratton, shares one about her life in the YouTube video above. She describes how an anonymous couple played an important role in helping her parents become missionaries and how she unknowingly crossed paths with that family decades later as a Supreme Court justice. Her personal story begins 50 seconds into the video and lasts until 2:36. She then finishes the story at the 12:41 mark. You have to hear it to believe it! Sandwiched between this personal account, she discusses her mental health advocacy.
I met Justice Stratton several years ago at a conference where she was speaking about mental health courts. At that time, she was a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court and a strong proponent for specialty dockets that helped people get treatment instead of punishing them.
Justice Stratton and I later served on the board for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, a fabulous national non-profit that helps communities find innovative ways to provide housing for people who are homeless.
She recently left that board and also retired from the Ohio Supreme Court. What she hasn’t done is stop helping those in need. Her focus still is on criminal justice reforms, especially juvenile justice issues, mental health courts and veteran treatment courts. She spends countless hours encouraging judges from all over the nation to get involved as leaders in these issues.
I never would have met Justice Stratton if my son had not developed a serious mental illness. She is a silver lining.
About the author:
