Public Safety Ministries Inc.

The Oxford American Dictionary (the electronic version that came with my Mac) says:

fellowship |ˈfelōˌ sh ip| noun
1. friendly association, esp. with people who share one’s interests : they valued fun and good fellowship as the cement of the community.
• a group of people meeting to pursue a shared interest or aim.
• a guild or corporation.
2. an endowment established or a sum of money awarded to support a scholar or student engaged in advanced research in a particular field : a four-year postdoctoral fellowship.
• the status of a fellow of a college or society : she held the Faulkner fellowship.

This morning I spoke at the Lake Minnetonka - Excelsior Morning Rotary Club. They meet every Wednesday morning at Maynard’s in Excelsior. I like speaking at service organization meetings. They are always very welcoming and are founded on a mission of service.

As I watched the group interact this morning it reminded me of the importance of fellowship in our spiritual lives. I look at personal faith practices, meditation, prayer, reflection, all as important spiritual fitness exercises and routines. But if I had to choose just one spiritual fitness exercise, I’d have to choose the practice of fellowship. It is important to feel like a part of something that is bigger than yourself. To feel like a part of something where you are accepted as who you are, imperfections and all, because of a “common interest, value or purpose”.

I think that is why there is such a tight bond and culture among public safety professionals, we accept each other (as well as hold each other accountable) because of our common mission, we protect. And we actually enjoy each other’s company, just as these rotary members clearly do.

So to the Lake Minnetonka - Excelsior Morning Rotary Club, thank you for the opportunity to share my message on spiritual fitness, and thank you for the fellowship we shared.

Question for the day: “Where do you share the fellowship experience?”

Last week I received a question on the “Spiritual Fitness” definition.

Chris wrote: “OK. What are the essential spiritual functions of a public safety officer? How do you define that? I can’t come hear you speak so I am going to need it via this weblog!”

The origin of “essential spiritual functions” comes from my work with physical fitness programs that started more than 15 years ago. The Americans with Disabilities Act impacted how we could conduct physical fitness training and specifically physical fitness evaluations. We could only evaluate the performance of essential functions of the job, and since we were dealing with physical fitness, we could evaluate essential “physical” functions.

Therefore we could evaluate the ability to chase someone, handcuff them, wrestle with them. We could evaluate the ability to drive a car, shoot a gun, give verbal commands and the countless other physical skills needed to perform the job. We could not evaluate the number of push-ups or sit-ups a person could perform. These exercises measured strength and endurance but not the specific essential functions that officers performed.

So, again I draw the physical /spiritual fitness comparison. Essential spiritual functions of police work are not prayer, faith, religion, meditation (push-ups, sit-ups, etc). Essential spiritual functions that police officers must perform are things like applying fairness in enforcement, being compassionate with victims as well as suspects, being ethical, not abusing authority, applying the spirit of the law, honesty, integrity and the countless other spiritual skills needed to perform the job. One of the most demanding spiritual functions of this job is the ability to manage personal emotions. Officers need the ability to turn off personal emotions in the numerous traumatic situations they encounter. More importantly they need to know how to turn those emotions back on.

But we need to remember, spiritual fitness is job performance. We cannot forget that spiritual exercises, like those listed above, are critical elements in effective spiritual fitness training program.

A couple of weeks ago we turned on the “comments” option at the bottom of the posts. For those of us that are learning as we go in the weblogging world, (what you are reading is actually is a weblog, aka “blog” for those of you that didn’t know) we have to learn about the different functions and protocols, customs and benefits of reading and responding to weblogs.

The comments function is an important tool for building an informative and interesting interactive website. This past week I received a few (three actually) comments on my posts. I will respond to some of the comments with an additional comment, some comments need no response, hopefully some comments will stimulate a comment or two from other readers and sometimes I will respond to the comment in a new post. For instance, today I added comments to my posts from 2/23 and 2/14. I intend to write an additional post regarding comments on the 2/21 post.

So if you are new to the weblogging world, check out the comments function of current and previous posts. You click on the word “comments” and you can read what some other people have to say or say something yourself.

Last night was the first session of a “Retirement Academy” put on by the Eden Prairie Police Department in cooperation with the South Metro Public Safety Training Facility, located in Edina. The concept of the academy was developed when I was still working for the EPPD and exploring my retirement options. EPPD Training Sgt. Dave Becker took responsibility for putting the course together along with the help of several other department and city staff members. It is a very new concept and last night was our first glimpse of whether or not the idea would work. And clearly, it does!

There will be five sessions, each session held once a week for 2-3 hours in the evening. Session topics will cover transition impact of the eight facets of life, financial considerations, spiritual and emotional perspectives, relationship impacts and conclude with a panel discussion of retirees sharing their experiences.

Last night we had the great opportunity to have Dr Steven Geiger lead the opening session. Dr. Geiger has a very interesting background ranging from his early days as a police officer with Eden Prairie, to his experiences as a police psychologist with the Los Angeles Police Department to his current role as a successful business leader. His wide range of qualifications and experiences provided a great learning experience for the participants. He will return for week 4 to provide some follow-up and also share some thoughts on how relationships are impacted by the retirement transition.

I have the opportunity to host and MC the academy. It was a great experience last night and I look forward to the future sessions. I believe planning significant professional transitions is a critical component of spiritual fitness. My goal at the end of this academy is to provide a format for other agencies to put on similar training opportunities.

One thought that really hit me last night was that managing a career transition such as retirement isn’t really that complicated, but it definitely is a lot of hard work. A little training, planning and focusing can have a great impact on personal success in the transition.

I’ll keep you posted as the sessions progress!

Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to tell the story of Public Safety Ministries and the concept of Spiritual Fitness with the Eden Prairie A.M. Rotary Club. I’ve shared stories with the group a few time in the past and I always enjoy the opportunity to get together with this wonderful service oranization.

After the meeting one of my friends gave me a few suggestions on my presentation. One suggestion was that I come up with a one sentence definition of Spiritual Fitness that people could take with them. I’ve made several attempts at a simple definition, but it always ended up with more words that I’d like, so I’ve avoided writing it down. But in the spirit of Monday’s Post, and Bob’s suggestion I came up with the following definition:

Spiritual Fitness in the Public Safety Professions

The ability to perform the essential functions of a public safety professional’s duties and responsibilities that require specific spiritual capabilities and aptitudes.

or a shorter (giving up excess words for Lent) version:

The ability to perform the essential spiritual functions of a public safety occupation.

I could, and proably will, eventually give you more background to the reasoning behind choosing these words. But again, in the spirit of Mondays post, I’ll stop right here.

Today I write this post on new technology. Literally, ON new technology. I just purchased a new computer and decided to venture into a foreign land. I bought a Mac Powerbook.

I’ve always worked on PC’s, for those of you who are IT (information technology I think it stands for) challenged there are two basic formats for computers, PC and Mac (or is it Apple?). Now people asked me as I did my research on what to buy, “are you a PC or Mac guy?” Well I’ve used PC’s and played a bit with Mac’s at the Apple Store, but in reality I’m a “hit whatever keys they tell me to” guy. I didn’t think it would be a big adjustment to switch from one format to another when I didn’t even know what a format was.

So here I sit, watching CBS Sunday morning before heading off to church, writing a post to see if I can get it on the website with this new technology. Let’s see if I can make it work!

I’ll comment in comments and let you know how it went (testing my comments skills in the process)

Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association Board Meeting

February 15, 2007 Invocation

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 ask for blessings upon Minnesota military personnel deployed around the world. We ask that you bless them with the strength, the endurance and the spiritual peace that they need to safely carry out their missions. Also care for their families and the communities that they left behind. Help us, as an association, do what we can to compensate for their absence until they safely return.

 

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

 

Amen

I got a copy of Norman Maclean’s “A River Runs Through It and other stories” from my wife for my birthday a few weeks ago. The movie was on cable and I’ve always enjoyed the the poetic way that the story was told, so I asked and I received.

What I didn’t realize was that when the book was published it also contained “and other stories“. I’ve always enjoyed the works of Jack London and Robert Service. I think it is the authentic style of writing and obviously the subject matter that attracts me to these writers. As I read the short story USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky I was inspired to mark the following passage on page 144 (I have a tendency to write a lot in my books):

About the same time, I began to have another feeling, although one related to the feeling that I wasn’t going to let Bill punish me by making me watch mountains. Somewhere along here I first became conscious of the feeling I talked about earlier - the feeling that comes when you first notice your life turning into a story. I began to sense the difference between what I would feel if I were just nearing the end of a summer’s work or were just beginning a story……

Stories. One of my most favorite words. Yes our lives are stories, but we often don’t realize it. I think that is because we often don’t pay attention. Am I just ending a job, or am I beginning a story? More importantly, what is your story? Take some quiet time today and reflect on your story. Is it beginning? Is it changing? Is it exciting or boring? And by who’s definition is it any of these things? I love stories, telling them, hearing them and sharing them.

Again, take some time today and listen to your own story……..

Here is what Webster has to say:

Main Entry: def·i·ni·tion

Pronunciation: \,de-fi-’ni-shin\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English diffinicioun, from Anglo-French, from Latin definition-, definitio, from definire

Date: 14th century

2 a: a statement expressing the essential nature of something b: a statement of the meaning of a word or word group or a sign or symbol <dictionary definitions> c: a product of defining

When I write and share stories I often become concerned with how people interpret what I say. There are so many ways to define things, so many different perspectives, that is why I think it is helpful to share my perspective on how I use words. When I share “A Definition” I will usually reference a dictionary source, but follow with a personal view or perspective. For instance with “A Definition” I like to put emphasis on “A” rather than “The”. I feel there are very few true absolutes. Lots of ways to define things. I find my life filled with more questions than answers. So when I give you a definition, it is one of what I believe are many. But it will be the one with my perspective at the time it is presented.

Yes, we all made it home. The priest, the captain the chief and the retired chief all made it home safely. As they often say on these trips “what happens at Vermilion stays at Vermilion”. In this case I have to admit that nothing happened that needs to stay there. In fact, I think it is worth sharing. For me, just finishing week two of retirement/new career, it was very therapeutic. We ate, walked, ate, napped, ate, talked, ate, worked a little, ate….can you tell this was a firefighters cabin? Anyway you get the picture. The one thing we did more than anything though was we laughed. Laughter is a good medicine and we were well stocked with it this weekend. Thanks for the great time George, Tim and Mike!

By the way, have you taken any time to laugh lately? Not only is it good medicine, it is a great exercise for the spirit!

Did you hear the one about the Retired Catholic Priest , the Protestant Police Captain, the Agnostic Jew Fire Chief and the Retired Police Chief pursuing Lutheran Ministry who spend the weekend on an island on Lake Vermilion?

I’ll tell you the punch line Monday, I’m sure there will be one……

Is Honesty Always the Best Policy? That was the question for my first The Great American Think-Off back in 1998. Here’s a little historical perspective:

1998: “Is Honesty Always the Best Policy?” A record year, the 1998 Think-Off received over 820 essays, and the final debate was broadcast live on C-SPAN. As the country grappled with the spectacle in the White House, the Think-Off audience and the C-SPAN viewing audience, agreed with a soft-spoken priest from New York–honesty is not always the best choice.

I also submitted an essay in 1999 addressing the question Which is More Dangerous — Science or Religion? I didn’t win either contest, didn’t even make it to the final four which includes and all expense paid trip to New York (Mills Minnesota). Rob Reynolds, my successor as Police Chief in Eden Prairie first enlightened me about the contest…even bought me a mug with contest logo:

This year the question is Which Should You Trust More, Your Head or Your Heart? A great question that hits at the very heart of the Public Safety Ministries Mission - Promoting Spiritual Fitness. We want to put the Spirit (or heart) on the same level of importance in life as the Mind (or head).

The neat thing about this contest is that it is an either/or question. If you had to pick one, what would it be?

Comments are on.

I think it is time that I open the “comments” function of these website postings.  Now that I am “retired” from my day job, I have more time to commit to working on this site.  So from now on I am going to set “comments on ” as the default.  So feel free to comment on what has been posted, what’s been commented on about what’s been posted, what’s been commented on about what’s been commented on about what’s been posted, what’s been….well you get the picture (sometimes I crack myself up, my kids on the other hand just don’t get it…or me)

Last night I had the opportunity to share some thoughts and ideas with a group of law enforcement leaders. Normally when I refer to leaders people assume I am talking about supervisors and command level personnel. Being a retired chief and being the chaplain to a couple of chiefs associations, that is usually the case. However, last night I spoke to a group of line level leaders. People who are leaders in the profession, but lead from their positions of responsibility that put them on the streets of our communities. These are the patrol officers, detectives, investigators and sergeants that show up when you call for help. They are the heart and soul of the profession.

There is a trend in the profession to tap into and develop leadership at every level of the organization. When I was at Eden Prairie we put on a similar leadership development program. Last night I stood before 24 police officers from the Minnetonka Police Department, the Plymouth Police Department and the Maple Grove Police Department. If these people are the current and future leaders of our profession, we are in good hands.

Although I only had an hour with them, I feel I did get some seeds planted. I’ve given this talk half a dozen times now, and with the feedback I’ve received it is starting to shape up. It is tough to condense the concept of “Spiritual Fitness” into an hour when the topic has never really been discussed or presented before. I spend the majority of the time trying to define the concept of “Spiritual Fitness”. The second point I try and stress and explain is how the people drawn to careers in public safety have an extremely “Unique Spirit”. It is a spirit that is a critical characteristic of a high quality and effective police officer. My objective is to then explain the importance of the relationship between “Spiritual Fitness” and that “Unique Spirit”.

The comment I’ve heard most consistently after these presentations is “Okay, I get the idea, now how do I do it?” I’m happy people want more, but impatient with myself by not providing it. But hopefully through this website, people sharing the message and more time to focus now that I’m retired, progress will come quicker.

Thanks for last night folks, it was a great experience!

Yes, the results are in and…………

We’re Number Five! But Cobi and Orion did most of the work. I did contribute by getting into a tuck every once in awhile to cut down the wind resistance.

There were 10 skijorers in the the first wave of the advanced class. That’s me in the yellow and Pete Hindman of St. Paul in the black in front of me. Pete stayed just ahead of me the whole race. We even both had a short rest in the snow about half way through the race. I’ve known and Skijored with Pete for about 4-5 years. He’s a good guy.

I survived so it looks like I’ll be at the Winter Carnival Race tomorrow morning.