Invocation

By Dan Carlson, on October 27th, 2006

The following is the invocation I presented at the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association executive board meeting yesterday (10/26/06).

Dear God,

We thank you today for this opportunity to gather in the spirit of law enforcement leadership. We ask for guidance as we carry out our leadership roles in this association.

Specifically today we pray for those in our association in transition. For those who are retiring, we ask that they have peace with their decisions to move on. For those that are stepping up to new positions of authority we ask for strength to carry out their new responsibilities.

Many are called to serve but few are called to protect and fewer are called to lead those who protect. Guide us and strengthen us in that task.

Bless this food we receive today as nourishment for our bodies, the information we receive as nourishment for our minds and the fellowship we share as nourishment for our souls.

Amen

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First Snow!

By Dan Carlson, on October 12th, 2006

First Snow 101206 yard.jpg

I knew we were having flurries last night when I went to bed but didn’t realize until this morning that we actually had some snow cover.

This may not mean a lot to some of you, but to those of us that spend a majority of our winters participating in sled dog sports, aka “mushing”, snow is a big deal. It’s a big deal for the dogs too. Don’t let the shot of Jasper fool you, he was out bright and early looking to “run”. But by the time I got the camera out, he realized he wasn’t going to be harnessed today and went back inside.

First Snow 101206 Jasper.jpg

I’ve been reading a book by Kent Nerburn, “Small Graces“. A collection of writings looking at “the quiet gifts of everyday life”. In one story he writes about different types of silence. He writes “The silence of a winter morning is sharper than the silence of a summer dawn”. Could this morning’s snow and my reading the above passage last night be a sign from God? Could it be a spiritual message leading me on a new direction in life? No, I don’t think so. I think it’s just one of the many wonders out there that we usually don’t notice because we are often too busy to pay attention.

First Snow 101206 leaf.jpg

So my message to you today is to stop, take some time and pay attention. You never know what you’ll see.

 

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