TO AND FOR PEACE KEEPERS OF THE MILITARY AND ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT
   AT ALL LEVELS AND ALL OF THOSE IN THEIR SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND ALL
                         WHO CARE ABOUT THEM AND THEIR WELFARE.

CHAPLAIN CORNER IS DEDICATED TO ALL PEACE KEEPERS, CURRENT AND
RETIRED, THOSE LIVING NOW... AND THOSE WHO HAVE PRECEDED US AND
PASSED ON FROM THIS EARTHLY SCENE.  MY TERM PEACE KEEPER COVERS
 ALL SECURITY, JAIL AND PRISON ATTENDANTS WHATEVER THE TITLE; LAW
  ENFORCEMENT AT ALL LEVELS INCLUDING JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS;                
                            MILITARY IN WHATEVER BRANCH; AND
  THE SUPPORT SYSTEM PERSONNEL FOR ALL CATEGORIES IN WHATEVER
 COUNTRY OF THIS WORLD YOU HAPPEN TO BE.  YOU ARE VITAL TO OUR
 WORLD AND MY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND I CARE GREATLY FOR AND
   ABOUT YOU.  YOU ARE THE MINISTERS OF RIGHTNESS IN THIS WORLD...   
    AND THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT COULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT YOU!!!

IN ADDITION IT IS FOR THE PEACE MAKERS OF THIS WORLD.  SOMETIMES
THESE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE AS PEACE KEEPERS... SOMETIMES THEY ARE
NOT... BUT PEACE MAKERS ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AND NECESSARY AS
                ARE PEACE KEEPERS NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<+>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

DETERMINATION

de·ter·mi·na·tion   (dĭ-tûr'mə-nā'shən)
n.  The act of making or arriving at a decision; The decision reached; Firmness of purpose; resolve: approached the task with determination and energy; A fixed intention or resolution: returned to school with a determination to finish.
de·ci·sion   (dĭ-sĭzh'ən)
n.  The act of reaching a conclusion or making up one's mind...
(American Heritage Dictionary)

 (and I must add... putting that decision and determination into action to accomplish a desired or needed result).


A call this week brought about a most interesting experience and challenge.  I was called to assist an officer on a death investigation.  My purpose
on such scenes is to provide for the welfare of surviving family members and
loved ones.  After the investigation was concluded a call was placed for
the services of a local funeral home.  When the funeral service arrived
the supervisor took a look at the deceased and left to go and gather more manpower,
equipment and resources.  When he returned he found that with all that
he had brought they still could not complete the removal of the deceased from
the home.  He requested the assistance of the fire department.

As this was being done I prayed for smart people and a solution to our problem. 
The layout of the house was a challenge.  There was no easy access to the
room in which the deceased person lay.  The halls were narrow and the turns
into the doorways and hallways from the main hall were impossible to navigate
with any wheeled devices or stretchers... no space to turn a long inflexible
device.  The deceased person weighed well in excess of 400 pounds.

One fire engine arrived... the personnel  did an evaluation and called
for the assistance of a ladder truck and a crash truck.  These units arrived
along with an area supervisor and together they all did an evaluation... came
to a workable solution... and set to work.

Displaying proper handling, proper respect and great ingenuity... plus using
much determination and great exertion... these professional firefighters performed
a very delicate task in very tight circumstances and delivered the deceased
person from the bed, through many obstacles, to the transport vehicle.

I have always had great respect and admiration for the personnel in Public Safety
who are Firefighters... knowing from much experience that they do so very much
more than just fight fires... but through this experience my respect, admiration
and appreciation expanded powerfully.  They are part of the people I am
thankful for and pray for daily.
In this experience they were the direct answer to my prayer for assistance and
they did an exemplary job with a most difficult task.  Definitely they
fit most powerfully into my classification of the Peace Makers... and sometimes
into my classification of Peace Keepers... for whom I give thanks and prayer
every day along with the Peace Keepers.

This experience was one of those times in which I was shown a greater value
of all personnel in public service to the people in a way that I had not experienced
to such a marvelous degree before... they were magnificent!

Also as I meditated on this experience the title of this message today came
to me most vividly... I had watched it in action on the death investigation
call... just as I have watched it in action on  and in so many incidents
throughout my career ... and just as I have studied and read about it in so
many incidents in the history of individuals, groups and nations... DETERMINATION...
which to me includes the decision and the activation to obtain the necessary
or desired results.

As I meditated I realized that here again was a word... DETERMINATION... that
so deftly describes all of the qualities that are inherent in Peace Keepers
and in Peace Makers.

Through information,  meditation, education, evaluation and activation  people have guided the events of
history... sometimes for the good of the whole world... sometimes to the detriment
of the whole world. 

Moses was great and good for the Hebrews... but not for the Egyptians and others.  Mohammed was great and good for the Muslims... but is detrimental to all who
are not Muslims.  Many have been great for those to whom they were committed...
but not good for those who opposed their commitment.  The study of history
has shown this to be true many times in the past and right up to this moment.

For those whom I call Peace Keepers and Peace Makers, the same is also true.  They make it as good as they are capable for those to whom they are committed
for peace and safety... and difficult for those who oppose peace and safety...
and for those who cause destruction.

Today there is a great struggle to see if a conflict between human rights and
dictatorial power can be peacefully resolved... we have found that it cannot
be resolved peacefully.  We have also discovered that many people today
are not in agreement with fighting a war in which they have no personal interest.  Some feel that way about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan... they have no personal
interest.  Some feel that way about the war in the streets of our nation...
as long as it does not touch them personally they have no interest in it nor
any interest in how much effort it takes to guarantee their peace and safety...
just as long as they do not have any destructive power or force come into their
lives against them or against those whom they love and care for.

My precious readers this is not a new attitude.  This attitude in society
has been manifest and voiced many times.  When people learned that I was
going to apply to the Virginia State Police to become a Trooper, back in the
middle of the 20th century, most thought me crazy.  The usual response
was, Why???  No one in my area of life had any care or concern for the
safety and welfare of others that were outside their immediate circle... much
less for any person they did not know.  I knew men who would volunteer
for military service and people would ask, Why???  Very few in the general
population of my backwoods area understood the people who were concerned about
anyone else they did not personally know.  Law enforcement in my town and
county was the last job anyone wanted.  If you could earn a living doing
anything else you did it... law enforcement was considered a job not fit to
do by most that I knew... but not by me.

I had spent much of my youth reading all of the info that came my way about
law enforcement and military and all of the things that these people did that
benefited me
and the rest of my world.  I gained an awesome respect for Troopers and
the military.
I must admit that it took me a lot longer to develop respect for the local law
enforcement
personnel because of the influence of the people around me in my world.  In addition, I saw the cost it took in the lives of my contemporaries when laws
were disregarded and care was not exercised.  I saw the cost in young lives
cut short by careless driving, smashed cars and crushed, torn bodies of my friends
and acquaintances.  There had to be a better way and I knew that someone
who could do it had to do it.  My friends did not agree... my family did
not agree... my wife did not agree... but I knew that I had to learn all that
I could and do all that I could because someone else could not be counted upon
to gain the education and take the necessary action that I knew that I could
take.
The die was cast... there was no turning me from my determination... even physical
failings were discovered, fought and overcome...  face="Arial">Through information,  meditation, education, evaluation and activation I
became a Peace Keeper and now I can look back over the landscape traversed and
give a sigh of deep satisfaction that I made the determination that this was
part of my destiny.

Now I turn from that satisfaction over the past and look forward to the events
of each new day and handling the challenges that life throws at me with each
new dawn and the passing of the waking hours of each day... and I thank my God...
my Commander-in-Chief, that the journey has been this way... and count on His
continued guidance and inspiration that it will continue to be this way for
as long as I live in this world and work in service to my fellow humans....

Then I think on the hundreds of thousands of you who have made the same determination
and the same action of learning and following through... and I am truly amazed...
amazed that so few in relation to the rest of the population of the world recognize
the need and commit to meeting the need as best they are able... and then meet
that need for the good and welfare of all the others who do not recognize the
need.

You in the military... in law enforcement... in all of the public safety services...
and you in all of the support systems have been the ones who observed the need...
meditated upon it... made the DETERMINATION that this is where you fit... took
the action... gained the education  and training necessary... and began
to serve.  Some of you are new at this service.  Some of you have
retired from one branch of service and enlisted in another.  Some of you
have served for so long that, like myself, others consider you too old to function
and carry on further in the service of peace keeping... maybe in peace making...
but not in peace keeping... but we do not go away easily.  We find ways
to keep influencing the well being of our world by conveying all that we can...
to anyone that we can... that life is important and that it must be protected
and provided for.  Even if you cannot do all that you once could do...
you must continue to do all that you are capable of doing... for as long as
you are capable of doing it.  On Thursday night I met an 85 year old veteran
who was standing erect and looking good.  He led the Pledge of Allegiance
in the opening ceremony in which we were both involved... and his voice was
strong!  He was serving where he could!

Even if the body fails those of you who are in the higher ranges of age... pray
and seek guidance.  If you desire to serve there is still service available
to you... and even if you cannot do physical labor you can most assuredly pray
for those of us who still can as we go and do those things that are necessary
to be done for the benefit and welfare of our families... our loved ones...
our communities... and our nation.  As long as you can think you can pray...
and who knows what might come your way while you are praying?  Think about
how my prayer for smart people and a solution were answered as I was assisting
on the death call described above.

As you do whatever that you do in peace keeping and peace making, know that
you are prayed for, cared for and cared about.  My Commander-in-Chief and
I care for and about you very deeply.  Eternally we thank you for your
service... past, present and future.

"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!"  Be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary.  Take the very best of care of and for yourself as you perform your duty for
others.  Be attentive to your spiritual welfare and see to the care of
it also.  You need for that facet of your life to be strong.

Call or write if I may be of any service.

As it has always been... So it still is...

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