Think About It

This is a pretty emotional week for me for two reasons.  First, it is National Police Week, the week set aside to honor the men and women who protect and serve; especially those who have paid the ultimate price and have been killed in the line of duty.  Each year, about 150 police officers from around the United States die – not protecting us from some invading force, but standing in the gap between good and evil in our own backyards.  The second reason this week is emotional for me is because it was this week in 1995 that I first became involved in Law Enforcement.  I began my “public service” career as a police chaplain in Pierre, South Dakota and have been hooked ever since!  One of the things that I remember about my early days comes from Sheriff Kevin Thom.  Kevin was overseeing the South Dakota Law Enforcement Academy in those days and he invited me to do some teaching about the stress of Law Enforcement on officers and their families.  When Kevin was giving me my “marching or

Not long ago I was, once again, reminded that life isn’t fair.   The circumstances of the lesson aren’t as important as the lesson – bad things happen ... often to those who don’t deserve them.   As I thought about this truism, I was reminded of three important thoughts: 1.   We must not expect life to be fair .   Intellectually, we understand the inequity of living in a fallen world, but for some reason many of us tend to become derailed when we are forced to deal with unfairness.   I am not saying that we should become cynical about life, but what I am saying is that when bad things happens, we mustn’t allow them to deflate us. 2.   We must overcome the unfairness .   When life’s troubles and trials strike us, we don’t have to stand by and be victimized, nor should we just sit around complaining about how bad things are.   The best way to confront unfairness is to beat it by making the most of our circumstances (both good and bad).   3.   We must believe that God cares about u