FOR THOSE WHO DO THE GOING...
    AND FOR THOSE WHO DO THE WAITING
For as long as there has been man upon the earth there has been the
combination of
those who go away and those who wait for their return.

Those who go, go out for conquest, exploration, work, food... 
provisions... and sometimes to meet an enemy or find an enemy that has
struck and ran away... some enemy that has done insufferable damage to
friend or family, without provocation, sometimes involving stealing and
human destruction... some enemy that we know is there among us that
will do damage if not found and hindered from the ability to do or
continue that damage again.

In Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel today the enemy hits with a weapon that
civilized man cannot tolerate or understand... The radical Islamics use
persons rigged as bombs.  They move in among unsuspecting civilians and
detonate the explosives killing themselves and as many unsuspecting
civilians as possible... They will kill police and military also if
they can manage it.  I notice that it is always some brainwashed
individual that does the carrying of the explosives and killing of
themselves and others... It is never the leaders.
The leaders are always trying to stay hidden in some reasonably safe
location... Otherwise we would have no trouble finding the Osama Bin
Ladens of this world.  Their way is to hide and manipulate others to do
their dirty work of destruction.  They did that to us on 911... using
hostages and airliners for the bombs.

In today's world it is the law enforcement officer or the military that
does the going and it is the loved ones and family that does the
waiting... except that it is no longer just the men who go and the
women who wait.  In today's world we have both men and women going...
and men and women waiting.

The war against evil can be hell.  Patrol is described by some as hours
of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror.  It can and often
does exact an awful toll in death and wounded to those who do the going
out... whether the battlefield is the streets and neighborhoods of
home... or on a foreign field.  Sometimes a Peace Keeper can be taken
advantage of because of distraction or inattention.  Sometimes the
support system that is supposed to function does not or cannot
function.  Sometimes we escape injury or death just by the fact that we
had our minds keenly aware of the situation and we had to rescue
ourselves because other help could not be obtained... been there...
done that... numerous times in these many years of service.

Man has advanced his tools and implements to a marvelous degree of
usefulness but those tools have always been used to kill as well as to
build... and when the killing and destruction take place there are
always the survivors that bare horrible pain and suffering
as they try and deal with the loss.  On some occasions the one who went
out never returns alive... sometimes there is never a trace seen of
them again... ever.

There are two sides that have experiences that are seldom understood by
the other side.

The goers... the Warriors/Peace Keepers... must reach a state of mind
that is geared to survival and success.  If they are going to be the
best that they can possibly be they must clear all thoughts of personal
life and enjoyable things from the conscious mind while in the field or
on patrol.  This is necessary so that they can concentrate upon the
demands of the battle in which they are to be involved as they go to
duty.  It is necessary for sharpening the senses to be all business...
to see and absorb details that others never see... to take actions that
would be totally foreign to anyone except another Peace Keeper. 

Those who never go out in this manner can never bring themselves to the
place where they can comprehend the demands of the situations in which
the goers become involved.  They cannot understand that a Peace Keeper
cannot go out basking in the afterglow of some greatly satisfying
personal moment shared with a loved one... parent... spouse... intimate
other  or child.  NO!... for survival and success the mind must be
clear and sharp... It must not be distracted... It must not be
divided... it must be singly concentrated upon the duty at hand. 
Spouses and loved ones do not comprehend the necessity of this.  In the
days when I was teaching the truth of this to spouses and families
there were many who thought me brutal to try and get this message
across to loved ones in a clear and concise manner... (you can't call
and say, "The biscuits are ready, come to dinner)... but there were
many family members who came back to me and thanked me for the clarity
of the message... especially those who were faced with dealing with the
pain of a crisis involving their loved one being killed or injured on
duty. 

I am not in favor of carrying a cell phone making myself always
available to anyone who wishes to call me anytime.  I carry the phone
on my belt but it is turned off.  I carry a pager... If you want me for
an emergency then you must page me and I will answer when I am clear
and in a safe condition to do so.  Sometimes I do not hear the pager
until I move out of the noise that often fills the atmosphere where I
am working.  Then I check the number and call as soon as I am in a safe
place to do so.  All who know me know not to contact me when I am
working unless it is an emergency.  I do not visit when I am working.

When I am working I am constantly looking around me and watching the
position of my working partner.  If my partner moves... I move with
them immediately... and follow them so that I may provide any
assistance necessary.  I am committed to keeping them as safe as
possible to the very best of my ability whether the demand is for
physical assistance or using the radio for communications and calling
for more assistance. 

When I was a Trooper I always had to work alone.  Often times there was
no one else working anywhere close to me.  Most of the time help was a
half hour to an hour away...
One problem... One Trooper.  That's just the way it was and we learned
that ahead of the time that we were expected to do it.  Even when we
went to a new duty station we were given one or two days to be shown
around by another Trooper and then we were expected to have the maps
and basic knowledge to find any location where we might be needed.  The
part that most people cannot comprehend is that I loved it.  I thrived
on it.  It was my world and I was successful in it... and still could
be today if I were requested to do it even after all of these years.

My spouse never did understand... She just loved me and learned to live
with what and who I was... A Trooper... then a clergyman... then a
Police Officer/ Chaplain combination.  Chaplains that I train to do
foot patrol are astonished at what I see and handle that they never saw
until I showed it to them.  I still make it a point to know my
surroundings.  I still choose the seat with my back to a wall and my
face to the door.  My head is like a radar antenna scanning all
directions wherever I am... out in the open... enclosed in a
building... and cannot put my back against something solid.  In
addition to seeing to my own safety I have intervened in disputes and
restored peace when it was necessary on the streets, in restaurants,
nightclubs and wherever else it was necessary for the peace and safety
of others.

The die for me was cast very early in my life by my heroes of history
and literature... It was solidified by the few times in my young life
when I saw a "State Man", which is what Troopers were called in the
area where I grew up.  I chose the love of my life, my wife Sue, and
engineering.   I was too young to be considered a candidate for  law
enforcement.  I went to work for the Commonwealth of Virginia right out
of high school... but it would not go away and by the time I was 22 I
had to follow the urge in my inner being... It was law enforcement...
becoming a Trooper.  It was all that I dreamed it would be and more...
but there was something missing that I needed.  It was the longing for
a connection with God that had the prior call in my inner man since the
age of seven.  It became stronger than my love for being a Trooper and
I followed that call because I could find no one to direct me in the
proper way for connection... and I did ask many that I thought should
know how to help me make the connection.

Several months after I left law enforcement He led me to the right
place and put a man in my path that could introduce me to Him... My
wife and I met Him at the very same moment and the adventure took yet
another turn to put me where I need to be for the fulfillment of the
dream that would not go away.  He called me, trained me and put me back
into law enforcement here in a place where I said often that I never
wanted to live... as an officer and chaplain.  This was the thing that
had been lacking while I was a Trooper... the spiritual aspect was now
met.

 The first night on the street the miracles began and I have witnessed
many miracles since.  Through each course adjustment of the Journey I
became yet a different man... each change brought me closer to His
divine purpose for my life... and made me more of a stranger to my
wife.  It took much attention and much communication to keep peace and
satisfaction in my marriage while I tried to satisfy that deep longing
in me that had to be met... It has been filled but never satiated...
The hunger is still there each morning when I awaken... My
Commander-in-Chief and I discuss it often... and each day I give back
to Him and ask for HIs way to be accomplished through me as He sees
fit.  I have never been disappointed with a day that I gave back to Him
and left it to His guidance.  We have been through many adventures
together.

On the other side my wife could not comprehend why I wanted to be on
the streets working as an officer/chaplain volunteer when I could just
as well stay home with her and the children as far as she was
concerned.  She could not understand why I was like a caged animal when
I did stay home or we were away from the area.  She never comprehended
the need for me to be on call 24/7 to respond to some crisis somewhere
in the city involving some police officer and their crisis with
citizens or their families.  Even to the day I kissed her good-bye and
released her to my Commander-in-Chief for her to be ushered into His
Eternity she never understood that driving force within me but she
loved me and tolerated it's demands because my Commander-in-Chief gave
us a good life until she became disabled and then He gave me the Grace
and personal wherewithal to meet her needs and tend to her medically
until the very last moment she was with me in this life.

I hear from many wives the description of their frustration with the
choice their husbands made to become Peace Keepers in law enforcement
or the military.  Most of them feel that they are in competition with a
mistress because the job takes so much of their spouse's time and
attention... and occupies so much of their thoughts when they are not
on duty.  I try to convey that if their love is real between them, that
it is not competition but it is real love because the husband could not
love them so deeply if the husband did not love honor, peace and safety
for our way of life more than can be understood.  It may sound like an
enigma but it is true... Those who love honor, peace and safety for
others so deeply that they are willing to chance life and limb to
secure it... are also capable of loving their significant other more
deeply than most people ever experience.  Learning to experience and
express that love is what most of us in this life of Peace Keeping have
to work at until we get it to function well... the same as we work at
our chosen way of life in Peace Keeping to get it to function well. 

Being a Peace Keeper and a true lover of another human being takes learning,
practice and communication.

With all of my heart I honor the ones who go... the Peace
Keepers... but also with all of my heart I honor the ones who wait...
parents, families, significant others, spouses and whatever other
description might be necessary to describe the relationship.  May the
deepest of peace, comfort and understanding in regards to the
relationship become yours and bring your relationship to the greatest
of pleasing experience.  May the love become satisfying beyond your
highest expectation.  Work at it... pray... be patient... communicate
as you can with one another... enjoy the company of one another
whenever possible, even for those times that are always too short...
and your relationship will become one to be treasured even beyond this
life into eternity... but please do not push when they seem distant...
the things that occupy their minds and hearts are not for you to
compete with, but to understand that it is part of their composition
and often very, very necessary for some of the time.  Just advise that
you want their attention when they can give it.  Be persistent but not
pushy.  Communication is the key to all relationships and we all must
learn to do it well for the benefit of all of those whom we love.

Families and loved ones... THANK YOU for being willing to share the
life of your loved one with all the rest of us for the peace and
welfare of all of us.

Peace Keepers... THANK YOU for who you are and for what you do.  There
would be no life in this world as we know it today if it were not for
people such as you.

"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!"  All of you... be alert... watchful...
suspicious... and wary!
Take the very best of care of you as you seek to take care of the needs
of others.  Do not neglect the care and well being of your spiritual
facet of life... for it needs to be strong and well for your success.

Call or write if I may be of any assistance.

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

"VICTORIOUS WARRIORS WIN FIRST...
AND THEN GO TO WAR,
WHILE DEFEATED WARRIORS GO TO WAR FIRST...
AND THEN SEEK TO WIN."  Sun tzu

ONLY LIVE PEACE KEEPERS SEE THE VICTORY!!!
THEY SEE IT ONLY BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE MADE THEIR ETERNAL
PAYMENTS OF SWEAT, BLOOD, TEARS AND LIFE FOR THAT VICTORY!

WITH THE DEEPEST OF APPRECIATION AND RESPECT...
BE BLESSED (A CONDITION TO BE ENVIED)...
BE SUCCESSFUL... BE SAFE...
[My injunction to be safe means doing all you know to do as you do your job... it means
doing the best you can with what you have where you are using all your faculties to get
the job done well and with good results conquering evil and keeping or restoring peace...
it does not mean to avoid duty and honor... it does not mean to cower or allow anything
to hinder you in the process of duty according to rules, law and ethics...  it means that if
the demand takes your earthly life you destroy as much evil as possible in the process. 
That is my definition of being safe... doing the best you can and leaving the rest to God
or whomever else is responsible... being best employed for the sake and protection of all
the things and people that we hold dear.]

I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
And I rejoice that you are there whether you are Christian or not...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers,
Surviving Peace Keeper,
Virginia State Police Alumni,
RETIRED Police Officer Virginia Beach Police Dept.,
DCJS Certified Police Instructor,
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
===============================================================
Copyright: CHAPLAIN CORNER (DRS) 2006. All rights reserved.
May not be duplicated without permission, except to be forwarded
with copyright and all source information for any quotation intact.
 
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