In The Beginning……

By Dan Carlson, on August 16th, 2007

In the begining when God created the heavens and earth……and there was morning, the first day…..the second day….the third day…..the fourth day…..the fifth day…..the sixth day….. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the the seventh day from all the work that he had done.

So let’s try this….(and no, you know who you are, I’m not comparing myself to God, I just know good material when I see it and thought I’d go with what works)

In the beginning of retirement, when Dan created Public Safety Ministries Inc. and made it his new career……and that was the first month…….the second month…..the third month…..the fourth month……the fifth month…..the sixth month…… And in the seventh month he finished the beginnings of what he had created, and he rested in the seventh month from all the work that he had done.

I haven’t posted for about a week, I was trying to finish up some projects I had started so I could take some time off at the end of August, a sort of sabbatical.

sabbatical |səˈbatikəl|
noun
a period of paid leave granted to a teacher or pastor for study or travel, traditionally every seventh year.

 

I don’t know if the seventh day rested thing is the reason for seventh year sabbaticals, and I know it’s a stretch to go with the seventh month thing, but hey, I thought I’d give it a shot. So I’m gonna try and take the next two weeks for some travel (my nephew’s wedding this weekend in Erhard MN, and some time at the folks cabin in Onamia) and also some time to study. There are several books I’ve been wanting to read, books I’ve started (your’s included Rabbi!) that I’d like to finish and pass on to everyone some of the insights gained.

I may write some posts over the next two weeks since I enjoy it and find it restful, or not, we’ll see.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer, I’ll write again in a couple of weeks, unless it’s sooner, or unless it’s later….

Leave a comment   Wanderings

“We need a word…”

By Dan Carlson, on August 5th, 2007

A couple of days ago I received the following message through the Public Safety Ministries Inc. contact form….

“We need a word…”

Dan, you’re probably way ahead of me, but I look forward to hearing what words you have to say about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

Yes, I was ahead of the reader, the next morning I wrote of my thoughts and feelings on the bridge tragedy, but it was written for another venue, an article for the MN Chiefs of Police Magazine. Out of respect for that publication I won’t share that specific message here until the magazine is published this fall.

However, in response to the readers request here is a word, actually three, to reflect on :

Chaos…….Order…….Faith

The first two are a bit redundant to the message I have shared before. As Pastor Jac said, “There are two opposing forces in this world, order and chaos. I thank God that you people (Public Safety Professionals) are there when the two collide.” Once again, that is the message we all need to continue to hear, we need to continue to acknowledge, that the presence of our police, fire and emergency medical service personnel is a blessing we all share and the primary reason we all are blessed with a feeling of being safe.

Now faith, there is a word that hasn’t got a lot of play from me. At least not in print. But after a fair amount of reflection this past week, the 6 month anniversary of my retirement from the EPPD, faith is the word that says the most in this ministry. I’ve looked hard at words lately. I have always loved words, what they mean, how they inspire, how they influence and teach. Just yesterday I met with a friend of mine who works in advertising. He offered to help me with marketing the identify of this ministry. Along with spiritual fitness, public safety, order and chaos, service, protect, and many other great words, I kept coming back to faith. It is a strong word, but also a gentle word. It is the word that is at the foundation of this ministry.

I know that there are other definititons, but here is the one I give you today, the one that I revert to when I need to ask why? It is the one that, I think, will be seen here a lot more in the future.

Faith is a belief in something bigger than self.

So there is my word (plus a few) on the subject. Faith is what happened on the bridge, in the water, on the shore, in the living rooms, at the hospitals. It is why these heroic people, the professionals and the volunteering bystanders had last week. A belief in something bigger than self.

Leave a comment   Building the Ministry, Stories