Musings from your Shieldmaker...
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A former co-worker sent me this. It is unattributed but is too excellent not to share.
Just remember me. I may not have my name engraved on a memorial wall or be saluted once a year with misty eyes and trumpets played. I don't want to compete for glory or take away anything from those whose last heart beat was beneath a badge stilled at their last breath or lovingly adorned before they are laid to rest. Remember me in the glow of the patrol car's console as I bumped through the alleys on a quiet midnight shift, balancing a cup of coffee.
Part of me is glad for the quiet respite from the back-to-back demads of dispatch. Part of me wishes something would happen because I'm wired for those adrenaline infusions that keep my soul alive. From some subliminal habit my mind balances a practiced calm against the constant scanning of my senses. A thousand cues are processed as sounds or silence, shades of shadow, and relections of light keep every atom at attention. I am ready to chase, ready to retreat, ready to rescue. To the happily ignorant observer I'm a dulled door shaker just waiting for the donut shop to open. But remember me as the warrior who, while my family and yours slept warmly, shared the darkenss with the evil I was quietly hunting.
Just remember me. I may not have a war story of dodging a hail of bulets. Not many of us do. Remember that I was willing--why else would I wrap my torso in Kevlar everyday? My life is a walk among weapons. Guns and knives are a-plenty, but I see the ball point pen, the cell phone, the ashtray, the boot, the mini-van all poised for a kill. Just to go to work requires attaching tools of destruction to my body, itself a weapon and shield. An officer of peace adorned with a half dozen ways to kill, inflict pain, and subdue. This same one who proudly assured those who hired him that he wanted to be a police officer to help people now heavy hearted that victory often means another man in chains. Remember me, as a tormented crusader for all that is good, tainted by all this it not.
Just remember me. I may not show you my scars. I may not be among the many of my fellow warriors disabled by distress, but I am touched by their early deaths, their PTSD, their failed families, their addictions, and their bitterness. Remember that I could still smile and be quick with a joke and enjoy a good conversation. But know that I was always fighting pain. I cannot have pure grief for a fallen comrade at a police officer's funeral without weeping for my own mortality. I cannot shake the reality that death is my constant companion. I cannot enjoy the luxury of looking at my own delightful children without thinking of the dead and broken ones. It is a discipline to sit down and eat a meal soon after binding up the wounds that left skin and blook on the asphalt, to touch a loved one in a loving way after you've touched the dead. Remember me as one who carried on with life surrounded by reminders of its brevity.
Just remember me. I may not have as many enemies as I imagined, but it was not because I watched too many cop shows that I always had my eye on the door in the restaurant and I never carried anything in my gun hand. Nobody knew that I was calculating my odds on being able to take on anybody in the room, that I was looking snipers and pickpockets at the ball game, that I was always a little disappointed that there was not a robbery in progress when I went to the bank to cash a check, and that while I was singing hymns in church I was scouting trajectories to minimize crossfire, just in case. Remember that I was 24/7 even when I didn't want to be.
Just remember. It is what I tell myself. If I don't celebrate my walk in this life I may, in my current comfort, forget the others still on the front lines of the ongoing battle. I mostly sit at a desk now. I have finally aged into premature gray hair. My fingers are on business cards and laptop keyboards much more often than on Miranda cards and hand cuffs these days. But I must remember the midnights. God forbid that I lay my head on my pillow and forget the men and women watching over the night to own it for me. Shame on me if I drive the highways and fail to remember why they are smooth and safe, or go to the voting booth and fail to appreciate why it is such an easy exercise in this nation. May I never leave a prayer unsaid for a siren sounding in the distance. I must not forget that nearly every block and section of the land tells a story of when a hero was there. They are my brothers and sisters whose hearts have beat beneath a badge. I am proud of them.
I remember.
Godspeed,
Gary
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GOD BLESS AMERICA
He has and He will still. There are caveats though. We have to trust Him, we have to obey Him, and we have to stand back and let Him.
If we trust Him, we won’t resign ourselves to servitude because the costs of conflict are considered too great. Jesus said, "No greater love has a man…" (John 15:13). No greater act of faith in God exists than the conscious sacrifice of our courageous men and women in uniform for the good of others. In the light of eternity, nothing that has happened to us in this life, other than our acceptance of Christ as our Savior, will appear to have been very important. What we accomplished will matter little; for whom we made the effort will matter much.
If we obey Him, we will love our enemies and pray for those who hate us. That doesn’t mean we will roll over and play dead (Romans 13:4). It does mean we will take action at the direction of our civil leaders, and that they should have been prayerfully motivated to pursue the course of action they ordered.
If we are going to stand back and let Him, we cannot resort to expedient fixes when doing the right thing doesn’t seem to get us where we want to go quickly enough.
As the sheriff I served under used to remind me when we confronted a challenge, "God is still on His throne." We may make a muck of His perfect plan for us, but His will is going to prevail in the end. Our faith in His love should be strong enough that we can stay the course and leave the outcome in His hands.
Our law enforcement experience helps us to understand that the war on terror will not be won quickly, nor by being complacent, nor by treating the enemy like they were a criminal defendant with Constitutional rights. Wars are won by prayerful planning, faithful perseverance, courageous action, and God’s blessing.
Pray for God’s continued blessing and guidance and that this nation’s leaders will seek and follow His will. And, that you and I will do our part well. God bless America.
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