We work hard in life.  We work hard at our jobs, at our health, at our relationships, at our finances, at our homes, at our learning, at our faith… but how hard do we work at our “fun?”  And if we are working at having fun, does that take the fun out of it? Last week I heeded the doc’s advice when we had the whole family at the cabin for the day.   The kids were wake-boarding (in the cold and rain) and it looked like fun.  So I took a shot at water-skiing.   It’s been many years since I’ve skied, and I often plan on getting in shape to take it up again, planned to have fun, but never did.  So I just did it, and it was fun!  (It wasn’t pretty, but that made it more fun for the kids. Fun can be infectious)

So I am with the Doc here, go have some fun.  Don’t spend a lot of time working at it, don’t over plan it and over think it, just go do it… have some fun.

The Scene of the Fun

Take Care!

So what’s my point you might ask? Mechanic fitness training, 4-wheeler fitness, technology fitness training, just like spiritual fitness training requires consistency and care if you want to develop and maintain your ability to perform.

I’ve neglected the Honda so the carb gunked up and quit performing. I’ve neglected my tech skills, they got gunked up and I couldn’t perform a photo upload. But…… with the help a friend who is mechanically in shape, I’ve been able to work on the four wheeler and I see performance right around the corner. With any luck, one of my weblog consultants (Griff, you out there?) will come through in the near future and my photos will soon be up and running too.

Does your soul ever get gunked up due to over use and neglect of care? When it does stop running or is running rough do you have the skills to get it back in shape? And if all seems lost and you’re ready to just park your soul and give up on using it, do you have someone to call to help you get it running again?

Consistent training and available training resources are important aspects of any fitness training programs, physical, intellectual or spiritual. So keep on working out, and if you start running rough, ask for help, and if you don’t know who to ask, give me a call – I know people who can fix things!

Take Care, Dan

“Adventure and a safe haven, that’s a good mix”. I love words and I love the stories that they tell. Over the years I’ve got in the habit of saving quotes that inspire me, words that are good for my soul. The “good mix” quote comes from James A. Michener’s Alaska and it has stuck with me ever since I first read it over 20 years ago.

As I sit in my haven this morning all I can think about is the “adventure” that surrounds me. I see it in my two oldest kids who have picked education adventures in opposite directions and opposite sides of the continent. They have had success and learning experiences in those adventures, but I’ve always seen the importance of the havens in their lives as their adventures unfold. I think about the adventures of the law enforcement professionals I serve as their chaplain. The challenges they face in crime, politics, leadership, career decisions, personal tragedy… all adventures that depend on their skills and abilities to keep our communities safe. And I look at my own adventure, leaving the haven of a career I loved to pursue another that calls to me.

This is what life is all about folks. Often it seems to complicated and overwhelming, but if you work at it you can pare it down to “adventure and a safe haven…a good mix”

Today I pray for blessings on your adventures and I pray for your awareness to the wonderful havens that surround you. Often they get lost in the clutter, but they are there and they are “safe”.

Take Care.

Much of what we do and how we spend our time is like this guy running from pole to pole trying to keep all the plates from crashing. We have family, job, self, community, home, health, financial responsibilities, all seeming to need attention at the same time. Where are our priorities? Which plates need the most attention? Which plates are we willing to let fall?

So, here is your exercise, take an inventory of the plates you are spinning. Are there plates that you can let fall? Are there some plates you should take the time to carefully set down until you have more time? Are there plates you can ask someone else to spin for awhile? But most of all, where is your “spiritual fitness” plate. Is it spinning? Has it crashed or did you never start it spinning? It is important that we take the time to take stock in how we spend our time. Our nature has us spinning plates, lots of them. Make sure they are the plates you want and need to spin.

Take Care!

This week I was drawn to the topic of “Honesty” by an article in the IACP Police Chief Magazine “Should Police Officers Who Lie Be Terminated as a Matter of Public Policy?” (click here to link to the story)

The article appears in the “Chief’s Counsel” column and contains a lot of information on the impact of employee lying. Case law is cited as well as how different situations of dishonesty create different consequences. It is an article well worth reading. I spoke with a chief just last week who was struggling with a situation where an employee had lied. Without going into detail, the chief felt compelled to fire the employee even though the cop was a good officer, a conscientious employee and (except for the lying) an asset to the organization. He knew what he was going to do, he knew his department policy was and that his decision would be supported. But that didn’t make the situation any easier to deal with. As public safety leaders I am sure you have all been faced with similar situations.

So here is your exercise. How important is honesty in your organization, your family, your life? What impact does honesty or dishonesty have on your spiritual life and the spiritual health of your organization? Even if you have a solid grasp on how to deal with dishonesty, as did the chief described above, how does your involvement in a situation like his impact your spiritual health?

And finally, how do you define honesty? Is it ALWAYS the best policy? And for extra credit, how about honesty with yourself? What are the spiritual health consequences, of being dishonest with yourself?

Take Care

Boisen describes “living, human documents” as concrete experiences of pastoral care of living persons, that are sources of theological insight of equal importance to those of the historic texts of the Judeo-Christian tradition. (from An Introduction to Pastoral Care by Charles Gerkin)

I never intended these spiritual fitness exercises to become academic theological discussions, however I do like to share the context of my current learning. I am a long way from understanding the depth of the above statement, but it did catch my attention. Maybe it is because our profession is so focused on the value of street smarts rather than book smarts and values real life experience over academic learning. Regardless, I was drawn to the idea of “living, human documents”.

So here is your exercise for this week. We all have favorite books, authors, written texts that we go to for comfort and spiritual guidance, how about non written documents? Think back to a time when you provided or received spiritual care. Who were you interacting with? Was it a positive or negative experience? Would you spend time with that person in a future time of need? Why or why not? And lastly, are these living, human documents worth retaining, worth actually taking the time to document them? Or are they better just being put out with the trash and recycling?

Take Care

I had to write a “creed” customized to the faith community I serve for a recent seminary course I was taking. Most members of my class serve in an ELCA Lutheran parish, so their creeds were ELCA based and customized to the demographics of their congregations. The faith community I serve, law enforcement professional of the state of Minnesota, created a little different challenge. What follows is what I came up with.

The Peace Officer Faith Community Creed

We believe that we are a faith community called to serve by a power greater than self.

We believe in an expression and application of faith that is personal. It is a faith that is not regulated by government nor political correctness, but by the mutual respect of our individual beliefs and cultures as we come together in service of a common mission.

We believe that we are called to protect life as it exists in this world in accordance with the values established by society. We will attempt to bring a degree of order to the inevitable chaos that occurs in a world and society that exercises free will.

We understand that we may be called upon, at societies direction, to decide who will live and who will die. We are willing to sacrifice our own lives in order to carry out our established mission.

We believe that it is critical that we maintain a personal fitness level that is necessary to perform our duties to standards imposed by society and our own personal beliefs. This fitness must address all components of life, Body, Mind and Soul. We vow to be physically, intellectually and spiritually strong, and to be gentle in the application of that strength.

Here is a definition of a creed just for reference:

Creed

1: a brief authoritative formula of religious belief
2: a set of fundamental beliefs
3: a guiding principle

So here is your exercise: Read the creed above. Spend some time thinking about what the different statements mean to you. Agree? Disagree? How would you change it? How would you write a creed for yourself? Your agency? Your peers? Should we stay away from trying to write a creed?

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them!

Take Care

Anyway, she sent me this prayer and I want to pass it along. I go back to it now and then and always find something new in it that gives me inspiration. She told me “Please take this Seneca prayer with you today and every day”. And I say the same to you, enjoy!

O Great and Generous God, you have given me this day as a special gift.

I step into this day and accept everything that is in it whether it is a part of my plan or not.

Teach me to accept every gift that comes my way today.

Help me to use each gift wisely, to care for the earth and the world, and to care for and love my brothers and sisters.

Help me to walk respectfully into people’s lives today in such a way that they will be nurtured and edified.

You, God, have created me with a sense of of mystery. I embrace the mystery and surprise of this day.

You, God of mystery and surprise, I embrace all things that will happen this day.

Help me to accept and weave them into a closer walk with you on this earth with my brothers and sisters.

You will also notice I took the dog box off the back of the truck officially ending the race season. It’s with mixed emotions that I end the season, but a beautiful spring day in the 40′s is cause for happily moving on to spring and summer activities.

The drive up and back, about an hour each way, also gave me some “quiet time” to think and reflect. I’ve been retired and working on the ministry project for over a year now and things don’t seem any slower. However I had lunch with a couple of my former peers yesterday and one said I seemed much more relaxed, so I guess I’m settling in a little.

As I drove, I first listened to the news on the radio, then moved to music from my ipod (not with headphones, but plugged into the truck stereo, a fancy new option) which keeps my mind from racing. When I got home I did a little reading and reflecting. I pulled out a book given to me by a friend several years ago. Let Your Life Speak is a great little book by Parker J Palmer.

Here is a passage that I had underlined several years ago that really fit with this morning’s quiet time (from page 7-8):

The soul is like a wild animal-tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient and yet exceedingly shy. If we want to see a wild animal, the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods, shouting for the creature to come out. But if we are willing to walk quietly into the woods and sit silently for an hour or two at the base of a tree, the creature we are waiting for may well emerge, and out of the corner of an eye we will catch a glimpse of the precious wildness we seek.

Quiet time…good for the soul.

Take Care