Saturday, July 8, 2017

The Badge - A Cross to Carry


The call to be a police officer brings with it the burden of seeing the terrible darkness that exists in this world. We see first hand what greed, lust, hate and twisted thinking does to drive people to commit acts of evil against others. There will times in the course of a career that you will feel like the writer of Lamentations. Forsaken in the midst of thieves and murderers sometimes brings with it a sense of dread where all of your actions are scrutinized by the media, the public and critics of all stripes. There are times that it feels like God brings us to places where we think we are forsaken. Itis as if God has left us to fend for ourselves, surrounded by adversaries.

Yet in Lamentations 3:21-26, the writer says, "But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

God is with us. He calls us to service as peace officers as Paul writes in Romans 13:1-4, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer."

As you start you day, rest on these word from Lamentations and Romans. You are not alone and your battle for justice in not in vain. In fact, our battle is not against flesh and blood. Consider Ephesians 6:12, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

A number of year ago, my eldest daughter spent a semester in the UK. She got to visit many churches and monasteries where she discovered a prayer written by St. Philaret that is recited to this day by many faithful Christians in our world. Consider this prayer each day you go out to serve, even when it feels like you are forsaken and abandoned by God. It is not so. God loves and cares for you. He calls you to service and His mercies are new every morning.

O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will. In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul, and with the firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unforseen events let me not forget that all are sent by You. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering or embarrassing others. Give me strength to bear the fatigue of this coming day with all that it will bring. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray You Yourself in me. Amen.

Post script: St. Philaret also wrote a prayer for prisoners. You can find it at this link: Prayer of the Prisoner

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Fix My Kid


One of the more common calls for service for any police officer involves parents who drag their child to the lobby of a police department and demand a law enforcement professional fix an out of control son or daughter. These parents are under the illusion that their failure to parent is somehow going to be changed miraculously by a police officer sitting down with little Johnny or Sally and “scare” them into good behavior. The truth is that a police officer can’t undo years of spoiling, failing to set boundaries or holding a child accountable in 30 minutes or less. You are not going to find success at a police station for winning the war for a child’s mind, body or spirit any more than you will find it dragging a child to a church event. The following is a story to serve as a reminder that forcing a child (or anyone for that matter) to church is not going to teach them how be a better person.

My wife and I recently volunteered for the Compassion Experience hosted by our church. The Compassion Experience is an outreach by Compassion International. (https://www.compassion.com/) This ministry works to provide food, elementary education, trade schools training and sharing the love of Jesus Christ in twenty-six impoverished countries across the globe. The Compassion Experience brings a semi-truck and trailer to local communities to provide a three dimensional experience for people to see what it is like for a child struggling to eat one meal a day, live in dirty conditions with little hope for the future. There are two experiences to choose from that tell a story of a boy and a girl who started in poverty and through the support of Compassion, were able to turn their lives around. It costs less than $40 per month to help one child in need.

We were responsible to usher people into the Experience, providing them with head phones and an audio presentation for a ten minute walk through tour. During our shift, a mother and young son, who was about 10, came into the welcome area. The mother told me that she brought her son because he was spoiled and not appreciative of how good his life was. We got them set up for their tour and sent them into the exhibit. Within seconds, the boy came running out screaming at his mother he was not going to go through. His behavior bordered on out of control and he ran out of the welcome tent and out to the family car where he took refuge in the driver’s seat. The mom apologized, gave us the audio equipment and left explaining that her son had sensory overload problems. We had compassion on the boy, thinking that he was fearful of the dark room.

Ten minutes later the mother and son returned. We refitted them with the headphones and watched as they entered the exhibit. Once finished, they had the opportunity to sponsor a child by selecting a package that had photographs and biographies. From where I sat, I could hear the son talking with a Compassion representative. I was hopeful that he might learn something from his experience. Sadly, he paid no attention to the faces of children in the photographs, but was trying to convince the host that Compassion should be making an exhibit about him. He was, after all an expert video game player and knew for certain that his story would be just as interesting as the two children he learned about from Ethiopia and the Dominican Republic. He had sensory overload…an overload of materialism. I was sad for this boy who was unable to see what he had in his life. I was sad for the mother who somehow believed that a ten minute walk through was going to make her son see something that she had failed to teach him. Our compassion turned to frustration as we began to understand that it was not fear, but self-absorption and materialism.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.”

What is it that God is trying to show you about the blessings in your life that you refuse to see because what you have is not quite what you think you deserve? Are you the ten year old looking for validation or the parent looking for the quick fix? What is it that you want God to “fix” when in reality, He has already done that and wants you to deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow him?