Today, I finally had the chance to watch the three-day recorded impeachment proceedings in the Philippines. To be honest, it felt like I was binge-watching a Netflix legal drama. Then, almost instinctively, I caught myself quietly whispering, “Entering an appearance on behalf of…”

I smiled. Old dreams have a way of resurfacing.

Before I became a pastor, I entered law school. I also grew up in a family where conversations about justice, public service, and the rule of law were ordinary. For a season, I imagined that I, too, would someday stand before the courts and practice law.

Life, however, unfolded differently. Life—and ultimately God—expanded my classroom.

I no longer see the law only through legal texts and courtrooms. I see it through my vocation as a pastor and Christian educator, and through the communities that have shaped my understanding of justice.

The farmers I accompanied, the workers I walked alongside, and the communities I served taught me that justice is not merely argued in courtrooms. It is experienced—or denied—in everyday life. Perhaps that is why I watched the impeachment proceedings differently.

We will have different opinions about the impeachment. After watching hours of hearings, I think many of us have caught ourselves saying, “I object, Your Honor!”

Perhaps we should. A healthy democracy makes room for questions, objections, and disagreement.

But Christian faith reminds us that our objections should never end with winning an argument. They should lead us to seek truth, uphold human dignity, and stand alongside those who are most affected by the exercise of power.

My years in ministry have taught me this: Christian faith continually calls us to stand alongside those who are forgotten, marginalized, and oppressed—because they are too often the ones who bear the weight of injustice.

I have finally found the appearance I was meant to enter. Not before a judge alone.

But alongside the communities that continue to teach me what justice truly means.

Because in the end, the true measure of any law, any institution, or any exercise of power is not simply the verdict it produces—but the lives it protects, the dignity it upholds, and the kind of future it leaves for our children.