NEW LIFE

The life for which I sought when I abandoned old ways and entered into
Law Enforcement took five and one-half years to be manifest to me.  At
that point I had been searching for about 15 years.  I entered into the
field of Law Enforcement because I wanted to make life safer for those
who traveled our streets, roads and Interstates.  I wanted to make a
difference for good and stop the senseless killing that I had seen so
very often among family, friends, young people and strangers.

After five years of trying to do it with law, a badge and a gun I
realized that something was missing from my personal life.  I had every
reason to be happy but I was not.  I was so empty that it is
indescribable... a weak description would be a hole big enough to drive
a tractor-trailer through and not come close to touching the sides... I
left Law Enforcement and went in search of that something... and I knew
it had to do with God... but I could not find anyone in my vicinity who
could help me make connection.  I had tried but no success on my first
duty station... and none at the second duty station either.

In my youth I had attended church when I wanted to go... No one sent me
nor took me.  I had even gone to Easter Sunrise services to see if I
could find it there when I was in my teens.  I had not found it
there... Nor did I find the connection in church... And the preachers
and people that I questioned could not give me anything that worked for
me...

Until my search led me to a business meeting a little over six months
after I left the Virginia State Police... Still looking for that
connection that I had not ever been able to find.  At this meeting I
met a man whom I had known before while I was a Trooper... but he was
not a man I wanted to talk with and be influenced by while I was a
Trooper because he did not display any indication that he had anything
his life that I might want.

After I left the State Police and entered into the business field I was
working for the same company that this man was working for.  In the
time since I had left the State Police I had heard some very
interesting stories about how this man had changed and was often too
busy to answer his telephone to give his Friday night reports because
he was too busy in prayer meetings.  There was even talk in the company
of letting this man go because he had become too religious.

After the first day of business my wife and I had dinner with this man
and his wife.  After dinner he and I went to my room for a personal
meeting and I picked up the red Bible off the dresser and handed it to
him.  To him I said, "What I need is in here... Help me find it!"

Immediately it seemed that every other company rep at that meeting
wanted to get into my room.  There was no room left to stand nor sit...
Conversation was so loud that one could not carry on personal
conversation.  We went to the room where he and his wife were staying
and there we found our wives conversing on the subject of God and how
to connect with Him.  He began to talk with my wife and explained some
simple scriptures to her.  Then he asked if she wanted to have a
personal conversation with God and be introduced to Him... She
responded that she did.  He explained four verses of scripture to her
and led her in prayer.  He turned to me after their prayer and asked if
I wanted to have the same scriptures explained to me and then do the
same as she did and I said, "I already did.  I was listening as you
talked with her and I did it as she did it."

I had found my connection!  Life took some very quick changes after
that and a prayer that I prayed on that same weekend was quickly
answered.  I was back home in Northern Virginia on Sunday afternoon in
my office at my desk doing weekly reports... Suddenly I was inspired to
say a personal prayer.  I looked up, facing a concrete wall I said,
"God, give me a way to feed my family and I will give you all I've
got... that's me... and your part of everything I ever get from this
moment on."

I did not know anything about prayer.  No one had ever taught me
anything except the Lord's Prayer... I learned that by rote and could
recite it... but no one ever taught me it's meaning was nor what I was
asking for if I prayed it.  No one ever taught me the difference
between reciting and praying... But that Sunday afternoon while looking
at a blank concrete wall I discovered that there is definitely a vast
difference...

I prayed about 3:30 PM on Sunday and on Monday morning the phone rang
just as I was preparing to leave for an appointment.  The caller was
offering me a job in a far away city in a line of work I had not been
in for several years.  They were offering top pay and other
enticements... Would I come at their expense and talk with them?   Of
course I said, "YES!"

They wired the ticket and I flew to their city... received a grand
tour... had a conference with the General Manager...  He asked what it
would take for me to move and come to work for them.  My answer was top
pay and all moving expenses paid.  He said I will call you as soon as I
talk with the company president... and I flew back to Northern Virginia.

Shortly he called and asked how soon I could report for work.  They
would pay all expenses that I requested... Set me up in a furnished
apartment with all expenses paid including meals and personal expenses
for up to three months until I could find a house and move my family...
and pay all moving expenses.  I went to work for them the following
Monday.  When I found the house to meet our needs they put up the money
that I needed to get the house and furnishings that I needed to be able
to live in the house.

I had prayed in early March... We moved the first part of June.  We
attended church together at a church pastored by a minister whom I had
met a one of my previous company's business meetings.  I knew
immediately that this was where I belonged and that I must get right
into the church and get involved.  I did and my wife followed my lead.

The change in my life started there and has not slowed down since. 
Except for a few slack times for rest it always seems to be speeding up.

I tell this experience now because it was the beginning of real
and powerful life for me.  That is what Easter is supposed to
represent... except that I seldom use the word "Easter"... I usually
called the day Resurrection Sunday because my Eternal Captain, The Lord
Jesus Christ walked out of a grave in the early morning hours of that
day...  Resurrection means new life in one who was dead... Until
I met Him I was not fully alive.  I was missing all that it
took to make my life truly meaningful.  Almost immediately I learned to
see what marvelous life was all around me... and to appreciate my
beautiful wife (I thought I had loved her too much... Now I found that
I did not love her enough) and our lovely children... and that empty
place I had before that meeting was gone... It was now
filled and I saw things differently.  I could not explain it to any one
else but it was real to me!  This is the reason that I celebrate
"Resurrection Sunday".

I am not talking about religion... Religion is what man does for God. 
I am talking about relationship... Relationship is what Christ did for
us in His suffering, death, burial and Resurrection.  When I recognized
that my life took on a new meaning and a new direction.
I became a new man... Because I became a new man I have learned all
that I could and I am still learning... My writing this message today
is because of the new man that I became when I met Him and the
connection between us became personal.

It took me years of study and learning to understand what happened to
me and how to discuss it with others... I knew immediately that my
search for connection was over... And that connection was now impelling
me forward into the places where He wanted me to be and to find the
things that He wanted me to learn and to do.  I sit here now, 39 years
later, and it still makes my heart flutter and my breath quicken.  It
is still real and it gets gooder and gooder every day.  (I know that is
poor English but you will remember that I said it!)

Today I had a job interview.  It was short, pleasant, to the point and
I will have to wait for a while to see if I was selected.  I will have
another interview for a different job in early May.  The one today was
for a summer job and the next one is for  a part-time job of almost 40
hours a week but no benefits for either.

One of the readers of CHAPLAIN CORNER sent a great surprise to me after
reading last week's message.  That person went to great lengths to
remain anonymous so this is the only means I have to convey my
appreciation... THANK YOU, unknown benefactor from the Great Plains...
THANK YOU!

This has been another week of adventure and more calls for service in
human crisis.  I was called to a murder scene and took a trainee along
so that a busy, difficult scene could be used as a training tool.  Some
opportunities for education did take place for the benefit of both the
trainee and a young pastor already at the scene.  On the job training
can be a very beneficial experience....

In the furtherance of adventure several situations about which I have
been concerned have been resolved to my satisfaction... plus my old
duty car has been replaced with a much later model that has a new motor
and new transmission and all of my previously assigned communications
equipment is being installed into the newer vehicle...

My daughter received the repair surgery this week that has been needed
for a very long time but we could not get anyone to do it.  The cause
of the problem has now been diagnosed as MRSA, a very strong form of
staph infection, and she is receiving a new antibiotic by IV daily that
has proven very effective against this infection in others.  She had a
PICC line installed and will be receiving this IV therapy for three to
six weeks.  The wound is about the size of a softball, open, has a VAC
pump in it plus a sponge impregnated with silver nitrate to speed
healing and help control infection.  She will have visiting nurses
daily who will oversee the IV therapy and tend and pack the wound. 
That is another answer to prayer just to get all of that accomplished.

This week I finished a very intriguing book that I have been trying to
read for a while.  Last week I started over in the second chapter
because I could not remember what I had read.  In a short time I became
deeply involved in the story and the main characters.  From that point
on I took advantage of every available moment and lost some sleep as I
did all within my power to absorb the story.  It is set in the
Southwest on a Navajo Reservation.  The main characters are a Native
American who served in the S.E.A.L.s in Vietnam and as a spook after
Nam plus a most interesting lady who is his forensic psychologist, a
Reverend and a death-row prison chaplain. 

In the book he is a Captain and Chief of the local Navajo Nation
District Police Department... plus the leader of an undercover stealth
team comprised of Native American veterans of U.S Military.

She is his right hand assistant from the beginning... Then they both
get shot... He saves her by first aid and CPR learned in the heat of
battle and they recover together.  Much of the story line winds through
many incidents that all come together extremely well as the book ends
with the promise of continuation in the next installment... and I am
looking forward to the next installment.  It is good entertainment plus
I learned some good things that I did not know and re-learned some
things that I had allowed to slip out of current awareness.  I liked
NAVAJO HEAT by Mary Helen Madrid-Null so well that I plan to read it
again as soon as possible.  After you get into it, it holds your
attention.  I know the character of the Chief well... I would be most
blessed to ever come to know a woman like Doctor T in the book.  If you
get the chance to read it I think you will like it... Peace
Keeper/Warriors will quickly recognize the Chief.  Many of us will see
a lot of ourselves in him.

The fatality I wrote of last week involving the deaths of the two teen
age girls struck and killed by the DUI has now received national
attention.  It is one case that will always live vividly in my memory. 
Some of our experiences just never go away.  That case took more time
to handle for me than any other call of that type I have ever been on. 
I pray that some good will come out of this tragedy.

It is so quiet here in my office that I can hear the clocks ticking and
both of my dogs snoring.  Now I have time to meditate on the needs of a
very dear friend, one of the best trainers the I ever had in firearms,
who is very ill and in a local hospital.  His priest, whom I love as a
brother, came in to the hospital while I was there today.  I served the
Body of Christ to my friend and the priest gave him a blessing of
anointing for healing.  The diagnosis for my friend is Leukemia.  He is
having a difficult time of it.  If you pray, please pray for this Peace
Keeper from the U.S. Navy  in WW2 in the Pacific.

Not a day goes by that I do not find some news item that indicates
difficult circumstances in the lives of Peace Keepers at home and on
foreign fields.  Life is so demanding upon the lives of Peace Keepers
and everyday some Peace Keepers pay the full price for peace and safety
in this world.  It is heartbreaking for me as well as for each one
involved.  My purpose is to visit the Throne of Grace with you every
day.  You are as important to me as if you were my brothers, sisters,
children, grandchildren and family.  No one is more important to me
than you.  You are my Compadres... people of the same heart.

I meditated today for a short time on the Blue Ridge Mountains of my
home.  There is such peace in some of my places there that I would love
to take each one of you there for a time... especially all of you that
are overloaded and worn.  Rest assured that we will share those times
of peace each time I go there during my meditation because I will take
you there with me in spirit since we may never get to go there together
physically.  May the Peace of God... that Peace which surpasses all
human understanding... mount guard over your minds, hearts and
bodies... May you come to know that Peace experientially...
May that Peace grow and expand in you and upon you until it overflows
with more than you need... and enough for you to be able to give it
away to others.

Until someday when I might be able to see you face to face... "BE
CAREFUL OUT THERE!"   Be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary.  Take
the very best care of you as you care for the needs of others.  Pay
special attention to your spirit.  It needs to be strong for you to
succeed.

Call or write if I may be of service.  If you send any messages please
let me know who you are and where you are.  I really would like to have
that information.

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

There would be no world as we know it without you.  We need you.  My
Commander-In-Chief and I hold you in the highest of respect and
regard...

"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, 
VIRGINIA STATE POLICE ALUMNI,
RETIRED Police Officer, Certified Police Instructor,
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
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