Letter: Birk displays compassion and wisdom

A judge makes many hard decisions about the lives of those people who come before him. He must have grace, compassion, and above all, wisdom.  

John Birk knows about wisdom. His wife passed away and he has other tragedies in his past.  But John believes in the words of the ancient poet:  “He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom by the awful grace of God.”  

John has wisdom. You get this by talking to him for only a few minutes. John will not talk about tragedy. He will talk with the wisdom that a good judge must have when real people with real suffering come before him for justice.

Ann Patterson M.D., Jasper