Public Safety Ministries Inc.

New numbers and a new category - “Numbers”.

Today marks the three month anniversary of my retirement from the EPPD. I wrote a post (click here) three days into my retirement showing my life displayed in four numbers: days lived before cop, days lived as cop, days lived after cop and total days lived.  I am a visual person and a numbers person.  Looking at these numbers gave me, and continues to give me a perspective on where I am at in life.  I often feel frustrated with the progress I am making in the my career transition.  Yes, believe it or not, I am not an overly patient person.  But the perspective of these numbers helps.

So I have decided that I am going to start a ritual, a tradition, a discipline, a routine, an “exercise”, yeah that’s it, a “spiritual fitness exercise” of taking some time every three months on my anniversary date to read, rest, reflect and rite.  I’m writing this post at about 2 in the afternoon after a day of struggling to focus on the 4 R’s, trying to avoid getting caught up (ie. procrastinate) spending my time on the chores and projects that usually make up my days.  But I did make some progress, and it was quite refreshing.  Enough so that I want to make the exercise a routine.

So every three months on the 26th, look for a new “numbers” post and get some perspective on my perspective.

Well, it’s 10:06 am Tuesday morning and I’m at Dunn Brothers Coffee in Excelsior. I’m sitting at the desk in the back conference room with another guy who’s doing some work on his computer. If I sit at the far right side of the desk I have a view of Lake Minnetonka. This place has become my second office, my third if you count my work space at home. One of these days I’m gonna share the details of my “world headquarters” office at 216 Water Street in Excelsior, my “XO” (Excelsior Office), my primary work space.

I spent last week in St. Cloud at the annual Minnesota Chiefs of Police Conference, I spent yesterday meeting with an author and a fire chief and catching up on a few things, I spent this morning with APFOM, and now I’m trying to figure out what to write in this post since I haven’t written in a few days.  As you can see I’ve decided just to put down whatever pops into my head and makes its way to the keyboard.  Writing spontaneously is very therapeutic to me, a form of spiritual and intellectual exercise.  Being around people, hearing and telling stories cranks me up and afterwards I need to defibrillate and slow down.  Purging my thoughts helps me do that.

Several projects for the ministry have developed over the past few months and  I will be sharing them in the near future, but I need to put them in some order first to do them justice.  For now I just thought I’d check in and do a bit of mind / soul wandering.

The following is the “Chaplains Message” I wrote for the most recent issue of Minnesota Police Chief, the official publication of The Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.

A Retirement Tale: Climbing Down the Mountain

Well, the day has finally arrived. I am no longer a Police Chief. I am now a retired Police Chief. No one knows that better than my wife of 24 years. She has been my confidant and sounding board throughout my 25-year career with the Eden Prairie Police Department. I often wondered if she actually listened to me when I went on and on about whatever was consuming my thoughts on any particular day. The other day I discovered she had been listening as I shared my plans and apprehensions about leaving the career and the department that has, in many ways, defined me throughout my entire adult life.

She called me at my new office to share a passage from a book she was reading, “for one more day” by Mitch Albom. The main character in the book, who was facing an impending career change, tells the following story:

I met a man once who did a lot of mountain climbing. I asked him which was harder, ascending or descending? He said without a doubt descending, because ascending you were so focused on reaching the top, you avoided mistakes.
“The backside of a mountain is a fight against human nature,” he said. “You have to care about yourself on the way down as you did on the way up.”

I think this is a great analogy for retirement, particularly from a law enforcement career. My public transition from chief to civilian was almost nine months long. I was fortunate to have a supportive boss and department that allowed a fairly deliberate climb down. But when you compare the nine-month descent to the 25-year ascent, it was a rather fast pace.

The way I see it there are four ways people can come down from the mountain of a law enforcement career: you can walk, you can run, you can jump or you can be pushed. You don’t always have a lot of control over how your career ends, but you can prepare yourself and make plans for dealing with the situation you are facing. I believe walking or running are the best options. But the faster you come down, the more likely you are to stumble and possibly get hurt.

If you are going to jump, you better plan ahead and look for a safe place to land and have some help at the bottom to fix whatever broke in the fall. And if you end up getting pushed, well, that’s the one to try and avoid. Not having control over how and when you come down is difficult. That’s why it’s important to be self-aware and know your situation and the circumstances that impact your employment.

There is one guarantee that comes with a law enforcement career: it will eventually end. No exceptions. So here is my advice. Regardless of how you have personally climbed the mountain of your law enforcement career, you need to have a plan for getting down. And that plan needs to include contingencies because you don’t always have control of the descent. However, the more planning you do, the better you will be prepared to handle what is a very complicated journey.

The following is the invocation I offered at tonights Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association Annual Awards Banquet:

Dear God,

We once again thank you for this opportunity to gather in the spirit of our profession and its mission, To Protect and To Serve.

We thank you for the opportunity tonight to acknowledge and recognize the outstanding contributions that Minnesota law enforcement professionals have made to their communities this past year. It has been said that there are two opposing forces in this world, order and chaos. We thank you God for the presence of these professionals when there is the need to restore order to the inevitable chaos that has a constant presence in this imperfect world.

We also give thanks for the blessing this association has received, for its leaders, for its membership, but most of all for its spirit. It is the spirit of this organization that gives it its strength, its professionalism and its purpose.

Please bless the food we receive tonight as nourishment for our bodies, the stories told as nourishment for our minds and the fellowship we share as nourishment for our souls.

Amen

and the benediction:

Dear God,

We give thanks for the success of this year’s Executive Training Institute. Please continue your blessings on this conference throughout its duration. We ask for your protection upon all who have participated as they travel home to their families and communities and protect them throughout the coming year.

Amen

The following is the invocation Iwill give later this morning at the opening ceremonies of this year’s MCPA Executive Training Institute.

Dear God,

We give thanks today for the opportunity to gather in the spirit of public safety leadership.  We are all individuals with differing faiths, beliefs and convictions.  However, we come together this week with a common spirit, a higher spirit, a spirit dedicated to professional growth and development of law enforcement leadership.

Many are called to serve in this world, fewer are called to protect and still fewer are called to lead those who protect.  It is said that there is no greater sacrifice than for someone to lay down his or her life for another.  Additionally, there is no greater responsibility than to lead those who are called to protect, those who are willing to lay down their lives to protect the freedoms that are the foundation of this nation.

Please guide us this week as we carry out our mission of leadership.  Help us to develop and grow in our strength, wisdom and compassion as law enforcement executives.

We also pray for those who have been called to protect the freedoms this country enjoys by serving in the armed forces.  We pray for all military personnel, but specifically for the Minnesotans who are deployed over seas and whose duties put them in harms way.  Protect them as they carry out their missions and bring them home safe when their missions are accomplished.

We ask for blessings on the food we receive this week as nourishment for our bodies, the information presented as nourishment for our minds and the fellowship we share as nourishment for our souls.

Amen

One of the things that I am dealing with through my career change transition is establishing a routine. In the old job much of my routine was imposed by someone else. Now my routine is essentially whatever I want it to be. I miss a lot of my old routine, and a lot of it I don’t miss. The camaraderie / fellowship with co-workers is something I miss. It’s nice to know that there are some things in life you can count on and as I establish my new routines, Friday mornings at Station 1 is going to be regularly on the schedule.

It is a day when EPFD staff cook a breakfast where even old retired police chiefs are welcome. Rituals, routines, fellowship and relationships are important parts of living a spiritually fit life. Thanks EPFD for providing me with this spiritual fitness exercise opportunity!

Firefighters Lee and Kim cooking the feast.

Chief Esbensen supervising (but know that I did catch him doing dishes after the meal)

The retired cop’s contribution ( yeah I know I’m perpetuating the stereotype, but I really do like donuts!)

Yes I know, that’s not how the saying goes but that’s how I feel right now. I figure I spent 25 years in my first career so I’ll probably do the same with my next. I really don’t ever see myself not working, maybe not employed, but not, not working. So when I start looking at where this ministry is going, things I’d like to do and accomplish, it is from a time perspective of the rest of my life. Thus, lots of stuff to do and lots of time to get it done.

Now my dilemma, parring it down and figuring out what to do first. Well, keeping this website active and keeping a relationship open with you folks, yes if you are reading this we have a relationship of sorts (or so I’m told). After being off line for a couple of weeks, coming back to my “to do” lists has caused me to try and bring some order to this time of transition.

First things first, next week is the annual Minnesota Chiefs of Police annual ETI - Executive Training Institute. I have some Chaplain responsibilities at the event and am looking forward to seeing many of my old peers. Next I have to review and compile the lessons learned at the Retirement Academy I had the opportunity to facilitate last month. It was a great event and with a few modifications I think it will be even better. Doc Geiger and I are looking forward to doing more work together on the “Retirement Academy” project in the future. Then there is the “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Task Force” that I am on as a representative of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association. This is turning out to be a very significant and worthwhile project for the ministry. I’ll be sharing more in the future. Then there is my own personal professional development. This is a big one. My objective is to become an ordained ELCA Lutheran Minister, with a focus on specialized ministry, specifically in public safety chaplaincy services. I’m stating the process to transition from the Masters of Arts program I’ve been in at seminary and switch to the Masters of Divinity program in the fall.

Well, that’s a glimse of “So Much to Do” but there is “So Much Time” too………

This Friday, April 13, 2007, there will be a presentation by Jeff Streucker, at the Emmanual Christian Center.

Friday, April 13

7:00 p.m.

A special invitation to all our men and women in our community who are serving or have served in one of these capacities:
• Law Enforcement
• Military
• EMT
• Firefighters

Jeff is a career Army Ranger who shares his story as a Christian man of faith living a life in the military. He played a significant role, while deployed in Somalia, in the incident that was portrayed in the book and movie “Black Hawk Down”. I’ve never heard him speak, but while on vacation I read his autobiography “The Road to Unafraid”

It was a very inspiring book that shared a testimonial of his faith journey ultimately ending in his ordination and new career as a military chaplain in the Army.

As I’ve explored the concept of spiritual fitness in the public safety professions, one of the things that keeps me interested in the ministry is the diversity of experiences and stories of people in the professions. Faith and beliefs are very personal, but often when we hear the stories other people tell, we have an opportunity to pay closer attention to our own stories. If Jeff’s story sounds interesting to you I suggest you take the time to go and listen to it, or read his book. Click here for more info on the event

I’m also very interested in hearing about other stories of faith and spiritual fitness that you have come across. If those stories fit our mission of “promoting spiritual fitness” I’d be happy to share them on this website.

After two weeks of spring break / visiting relatives in Florida I’m back home and back at work.  Since my retirement from the PD back in January, “back at work” has a whole new meaning.  Although I was greeted with a backlog of e-mails (many of which I kept up with while I was gone)  the only work waiting for me was the work I had left undone 2 weeks ago when we headed south.  No personnel issues, no emerging crime issues, no critical incidents in process, nothing but the work I’ve created waiting for my attention.  And that feels different.  Not better, not worse, just different.  Actually though, after 25 years of basically the same thing, I believe different is better.

I intended to spend a fair amount of time on our trip reflecting on my past and planning for the future.  Although there was some of that, as usually is the case we spent the majority of the time fixed in the present.  We stay at Cam’s mom’s house when we visit Florida.  We got word during the drive down that her mom had some medical issues and was in the hospital.  Without going into detail, we spent much of the time dealing with the inevitable issues that arise with aging parents.  So regardless of what our plans are in life, looking at the past or looking to the future, life happens in the present, we live in the world of today.  And that life is good.

We had a good trip, Cam got to be there through the medical issues as opposed to being 1500 miles away.  Sophia got to spend a lot of time with her big sister Amy.  Amy got to get the tan that was her objective of the trip.  And I got some of the best sleep I’ve had in a lot of years.  When I slept, I slept hard and on occasion it was more than once a day.  (and George you can save the trouble of sending the inevitable comment, I’ll do it for you: “So how’s that different from when you were Chief?”)

So it’s good to be home, back at work, and sharing stories.

Here is the excerpt from “The Tender Bar” I promised in Monday’s post.

On Friday afternoons Bill and Bud would quiz me about what I’d read that week in school. They would then cluck with disgust and take me around the book store, filling a shopping bag with coverless books. “Every book is a miracle,” Bill said. “Every book represents a moment when someone sat quietly–and that quiet is part of the miracle, make no mistake–and tried to tell the rest of us a story.” Bud could talk ceaselessly about the hope of books, the promise of books. He said he it was no accident that a book opened just like a door. Also, he said, intuiting one of my neuroses, I could use books to put order to chaos. At fourteen I felt more vulnerable than ever to chaos…….My days were controlled by teachers, my future was in the hands of heredity and luck. Bill and Bud promised, however, that my brain was my own and always would be. They said that by choosing books, the right books, and reading them slowly, carefully, I could always retain control of at least that one thing.

A couple of weeks ago I finished “The Tender Bar” by J.R. Moehringer.

It is a memoir that Cam read as part of her book club. She thought I would enjoy it since it was a story about a kid growing up who wanted to be, and eventually ended up being, a writer. For those of you who don’t know me well, and for some of you who do, it has always been a dream of mine to be a writer. That’s one of the reasons i enjoy writing these posts, it gives me a chance to practice and explore different ways of writing.

In many ways it is a sad story with lots of struggles, disappointment and pain for a kid growing up. But his experiences and relationships growing up were very rich and interesting (although not always very emotionally and spiritually healthy). Early in the book J.R. got a job in a bookstore working for a couple of interesting characters, Bill and Bud. They loved books, didn’t appear to like people very much, but shared a lot of wisdom and knowledge and their love of books with J.R.

I enjoyed the book very much and definatelty recommend it. Check in to this site later this week and I’ll share one of my favorite passeges that give a glimpse into the insights of Bill and Bud.