WHAT A MOMENT MAY BRING...

Peace or battle...
Rest or agitation...
Blessing or cursing...
Victory or defeat...
Life or death...

In the news this week... A son who was in the sixth tour of war in Iraq and Afghanistan told his mother on his last time home that he would not come home alive again.  She did not want to talk with him about it.  He was killed in Afghanistan during his sixth tour.
Can you ever prepare to deal with the death of a loved one?  The Bible says that you can.  I have proven for myself that you can.  I have experienced it with Grandparents, parents, in-laws, my spouse, one of my sons, many friends.... and thousands of strangers from stillborn and newborn to very, very old...

When I was a Trooper working alone most of the time with very large areas to cover, I knew each time that I kissed my wife and kids good-bye that it could be the last time...
Of course that could be true for anyone who drives on our streets or travels in any means of transportation as well as for Peace Keepers who are on the front lines of the war against evil.

Children are born and some die as children.  Children are born and some live to be over a hundred years of age... Some die at every age between birth and some later age whether it be minutes, hours, days, weeks, months... or a hundred years.

I have seen cars in a crash with very little damage and someone dies of a broken neck.  I have seen cars totally demolished and look like they have been in a compactor... and someone crawls out with hardly a scratch.  I have done investigations of crashes where great fun and joy suddenly turned into death and destruction through no fault of the ones who died... The choice of someone else caused the death and destruction...

Great events... Terrible events... What a moment may bring... Much of our plans are contingent upon something over which we have no control.  In each day we can do only that which is within our power to do and leave the rest to whomever else is or can be responsible for what we cannot do.

We live by what the Bible calls Grace... Some call it luck... Others call it coincidence...
I call it Grace and Life...  and life is arbitrary... That is... Lots of things happen over which we have no prior control... We did not cause it ourselves... We are left to respond to the situation or incident using whatever knowledge, resources and help we have available to us. 

Some of us believe that a Loving God cares about us and our situation and will give help to us when and if we ask.  Others say that, if there is a God, He cannot be loving because of what He allows to happen in this world.  I have learned that most happenings are the result of some human person's choice... Good or not so good...  Benevolent or mean... Intentional sometimes... Other times unintentional...

Some of us believe that He has passed along to us all of the basic knowledge that we need in the form of a collection of books called scripture gathered into a volume called the Bible which means a volume or collection of books.  Some of those who believe He did this, take this volume literally and learn what it has to say... Then they follow that knowledge to the very best of their ability.   These are called fundamentalist.

Others believe that the Bible is a good book but give it no special credence.  Others believe it is a collection of myths and give it no credence at all.

I made a statement in a recent previous message that said, "Nothing is real to you until you experience it; otherwise it's just hearsay."  When it comes to life that statement applies to those who choose not to learn all they can about life and to apply that knowledge.  That applies to those who spend no effort at learning new things and applying knowledge and talent together to gain better results.

Most experienced drivers have learned what they can and cannot do with and in a motor vehicle.  The young novice, the inept and the careless drivers drive like they do not know all they should know or drive like they do not care because nothing damaging will ever happen to them... They believe themselves to be invincible!  These are the ones who wind up being gathered up in a bag or a basket because they defied the laws of physics... or they cause great damage to someone else who was doing the best they could but were caught up in someone else's poor choice or someone else not caring... and an innocent pays a horrible price for being in that place at that time.

Also there is the other side of this thing called life.  Someone is driving in a bad rain storm and their car just quits... It quits in a very bad place... There is much danger...
Almost immediately, along comes a person whose very job it is to be on the lookout for just such incidents and immediately provides safety and helps to contact assistance to come and retrieve the broken car...  This family receives help and protection until further help comes and rescues them and removes the car from the dangerous place in the roadway and delivers them all back into their plans for the rest of their day.

The Bible says that it rains on the fields of both the just and the unjust (If the fields were prepared and sown with good seed the rain brings prosperity to both).  It also says that good comes to both the just and the unjust to try and attract them to the better way... Too, it says that hard and difficult times come to everyone that we my learn more about how to live life and overcome problems and tragedy... To gain experience and knowledge...

Life is like trying to assemble a huge jig-saw picture puzzle without having and using a picture to go by to see where the images and colors fit.  You can eventually assemble the puzzle without a picture if you are persistent and do not quit trying... But it goes a lot better if you have a copy of the picture you are trying to assemble to use as a guide.

The Bible is a guide to assembling life.  It is a guide to learning what is provided for you and what can further be provided to you.  Sure, you can live a life without the Bible if you choose to do so... that is a choice that is left to you.... But like the puzzle... It is a lot more simple if you have a guide to go by as you are living.  If you choose to learn you may learn a lot of very useful basics just by reading the Bible for yourself.  If you really want to learn and be better prepared and more successful at living it takes time and study to get a more full picture.  More time and study will give you the full picture and the best possible preparation for facing the arbitrariness of everyday life.

My recent three weeks of very concentrated demand and the needs that were met because I asked for help with and for each need verified all of this to me yet again... and I have been living this adventure of following the guide of the Bible the best that I know how for almost 40 years.  Like doing a puzzle, it took some time to get the borders formed and into place... Then it became a matter of filling in more and more of the interior of the picture... With each new effort and new knowledge it became more simple or more manageable.  I found that I was expected to make every effort to do my best... rather than just do enough to get by.   Nothing mediocre here!  We all have something specific to accomplish all of the time that we live.

I learned to continue learning and practice what I learned.... and I do not mean just in relation to Biblical knowledge and being religious about what I believed in relation to the Bible.... I also mean in relation to taking care of myself and those for whom I was responsible to the very best of my ability...  I also mean in relation to work and profession...  I mean whether it was engineering, law enforcement, clergy, or any of the other kinds of work I performed... In each endeavor I am expected to do my best if I want to get the best results accomplished...  No half way measures... No just getting by...  No excuses... "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might."...
That comes from my Bible... And I have proven it to be true as far as I am concerned...
It works... A man with experience is never at the mercy of a man with a theory!... or as I stated earlier, "Nothing is real to you until you experience it; otherwise it's just hearsay."... But once you prove it for yourself it is never in the realm of doubt again... It is real because you have experienced it... It is no longer hearsay!

There is a time to live... There is a time to die... My observation is that no one knows when their end time is unless they do themselves in... intentionally.

A man in his fifties goes to work... Sometime later someone else finds him dead on a job site of no apparent causes.  He is just dead.

A Peace Keeper goes through the hell of war numerous times but comes home unscathed... Only to die in a motor vehicle crash through no fault of his own.

Another Peace Keeper goes through numerous close calls... Meets and beats death numerous time on his beat... Only to be found to have died in his sleep of natural causes.  No trauma... He just stopped breathing...

Still another Peace Keeper, young and vigorous with the best of health... falls dead while playing softball... From natural causes... Natural to whom???... He had no physical abnormalities known to anyone before the incident and no apparent causes in the tests after the incident.

An infant is put to sleep for a nap in it's bed in the usual manner and is sleeping peacefully... Some short time later the child is found to not be breathing... And no efforts ever restore life and breath to the body... No herculean efforts by paramedics nor hospital staff... No efforts restore life and breath...

A beautiful toddler of three bids family goodnight and goes dutifully to her bed... The next morning she does not arise and awaken the household as usual... A check on her finds her several hours dead in a most peaceful restful position... No disease... No trauma... She is just not here anymore...

Yet some go through the longest of lives in the most dangerous of places and conditions and are never injured and continue to live on and on with good health and longevity... Some not even experiencing a broken bone and eventually die peacefully in their sleep...

Yet another person who has lived long and unhappily is confined to a bed in a nursing home... A stranger comes in to meet this person and visit... The subject turns and comes to be about God and their personal life... No, they never had anything to do with God nor Jesus... Would they like to know about them... Yes, they would... A discussion ensues... After questions and answers the elder person asks what to do to come to know more... Prayer and request are introduced... At the end of the prayer the elder person displays a look of astonishment... Then peace... And she lies back onto her bed as she breathes her last breath... Closing her eyes and smiling in peace she has departed this life...

Life for me is simple... I do the best I can with what I have learned to do... I live the best I can with the circumstances with which I must deal... I am in a constant process of learning and renewing what I have previously learned.  I knew as a child that I had something important to do in this world... Important to whom?... I did not know that but I set out to find out what it could be... Raising a family and learning several professions in the process, I settled first on it being engineering... Then a law enforcement officer as a Virginia State Trooper.  After a great beginning, I came to the place where I learned that I did not have all that I needed in order to do the best possible job... Something in me was missing... I set out to find out what that was... I knew it had to do with God... Through a man I had heard about that had become religious I found the workable answer for me and set out to learn how to cooperate and apply my new found knowledge... Application of that new found knowledge brought me back to law enforcement... My full story is different and somewhat strange to most people...

Strange situations caused me to be in right places at the right time to meet the right people that would be important in and to my life... Including my wonderful, beautiful, deceased wife, Sue, with whom I enjoyed a full 44 years of beautiful, powerful life.  My life has been an adventure and a Journey.  Many times I should have been dead but did not even receive injury.  I have played many sports including hockey and football... I have been in many close call situations including auto collisions... I have never been injured more seriously than cuts and scratches... I have never experienced a broken bone...

Some of us will live long, and some of us will live short as man calculates time.  The key is not how long but how well.  What have we done with our days?  How did we apply our talents?  What results were we striving for?  Were we successful in our own minds and hearts? 

Each of us must answer these questions for themselves... Most of us have all that is necessary to live a full life... We can see, hear, breathe and think... We can choose for ourselves what and who we desire to be... I have done that and I am ready to check out whenever my time arrives.  I will continue to be productive until it comes...

Someday I will cease to type messages... I will cease going out to the streets and highways... I will say no more prayers... I will have graduated from this life... And I can truly say it has been one long, great, exciting trip!!!  Sometimes I crawled as I sought  the right way... Sometimes I was so hemmed in that movement was not possible... Sometimes I was running as a sprinter runs because the next goal was in sight... I have been surprised at how easy it is to live a life of peace and success in the midst of chaos and conflict.  I have been joyfully blessed and sustained as I have been a Peace Keeper and a family man for all of these long years.  I still experience many joys as I ride the streets and roads and do my current job in keeping the peace.  Life still brings moments of great joy and ecstasy...

I have thought of you everyday in this past week... and I intend to think of you every day for as long as I live and draw breath in this body.  The storm against the security contractors in general and against Blackwater specifically has not abated... It is still there in some form almost every day.  The fight in Congress against the wars has not abated... Sometimes it just dies down to flare up again...  The effort in Congress to pass some form of the Dream legislation for illegal immigrants keeps resurfacing.  We are in a very dangerous place when our elected leaders are frequently trying to give away our heritage to those who did not fight for it nor support it in any way nor are willing to gain the heritage for themselves and their families by the legally constituted process.

Peace Keepers and supporters we must be sharp and knowledgeable about many important things or some enemy will slip in and steal it all away... Piece by Piece... The enemy will steal it, not in a frontal assault, but by hidden means when and where possible, secret means and deals when and where possible and pushed votes at just the most advantageous time for the proponents.  Thanks to you they have not been able to do it yet... And I believe, thanks to you, it will never happen as long as we keep learning and doing the best that we can with what we learn.

There would be no world as we know it today if it were not for all of you and all of your predecessors who have stood in the line and said to evil... "This is as far as you go!"
My Commander-In-Chief and I thank you eternally for your service.

Do the best you can with what you have where you are and leave the rest to God or whomever else is responsible...

Now as usual... "BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!"  Be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary.  Take great care of you as you care for others... and assemble your own puzzle well!  Do your best to learn all that you can and put it to use... Have your own experiences so that knowledge will be real to you...  See to your spiritual welfare... Your spirit must be strong for you to be successful.

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