Public Safety Ministries Inc.

My first experience with sled dog sports started about 10 years ago as a spectator. My niece was was racing a three dog junior circuit. A couple of years later I skijored in my first recreational race and things grew from there. If you follow my posts at all you know that the “City Carlsons” (not to be confused with the “Country Carlsons”, my brother’s family) race experiences peaked with Pete competing in Alaska and the Yukon World Skijor Championships in 2005. Since then my daughters have been competing off and on, but bad snow conditions these past few years limited their opportunities. At this point we have a four dog kennel of experienced but aging sled dogs.

(Bear with me here, there is a spiritual fitness message coming)

The girls are busy with other school activities, Pete moved to Alaska, so that leaves 50 year old (yes, I just hit the big one) dad to carry on the tradition. This has been the best local “snow season” we have had in years. The dogs and I have been training for the past 5-6 weeks and we have our first race this weekend in Frazee, MN at the “Third Crossing Sled Dog Rendezvous“. Click HERE to see the race starting order, yup, that’s me, first out, with my older brother Tom next out. I’m looking forward to getting back into it.

This last year has been very interesting to say the least. You will be hearing many reflections this coming year about my first year of retirement. One of the things that I hoped would happened, but didn’t, was that I would get back in shape, lose a few pounds and make recreational exercise part of my life again. But these past several weeks have really rejuvenated me physically and spiritually. Spending time outside, training the dogs, grooming the trails, skiing, sledding, has been great for the body mind and soul. And the fellowship and socializing at the races does wonders for the soul too.

So here is your lesson, one that is not new, not complicated, but very hard to accomplish (I know). If you want to be fit, physically, intellectually or spiritually, you need to make exercise a way of life, not just a program that starts and stops. A lifestyle of healthy activity and exercise is the key to fitness. Don’t go on a diet, but develop a healthy diet of positive exercise and recreation.

I’ve got to get going, I’m meeting an old (but younger than me) coworker for lunch today. I’m looking forward to the fellowship and catching up.

I’ll update you on the race as the weekend evolves.

Take Care.

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a dedicated public servant, more specifically a dedicated “public safety” public servant. Greg Orth, retired police chief / public safety director for the city of Woodbury and current county commissioner tragically died in an accidental fall last week. At 60 years old, he died way too young. The funeral was a wonderful celebration of a man dedicated to the mission “To Protect and Serve”. I did not personally know Chief Orth, I only knew of his dedicated service, and yesterday I learned a little about his personal life.

The message I want to give you today is the gift I received from the homily Father William Martin gave yesterday. He said “Don’t ask why Greg died, because that’s a question no one can answer.” But he followed with the question: “Let’s ask, ‘Why did he live?’ Now there is a question we can answer!” And then came the stories of a man who lived, who lived a life of service, who lived a life protecting.

So today, don’t spend a lot of time asking questions that cannot be answered, at least not here on earth. Instead ask yourself how you can live, how to live a life of service and care and kindness. Ask yourself “Why do you live?”

Take Care!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to share a message about spiritual fitness with Minnesota law enforcement leaders. I’ve given this message for the past four years at the MN BCA “Enhanced Leadership in Law Enforcement” training program. I always come away from the event with mixed emotions. I am always pleased with the opportunity to share the message and express my feelings on the importance of spiritual fitness in law enforcement. But I always struggle with feelings of not presenting the message adequately. As my mentor, Captain Doug Menikheim, USN Ret., always says “You have 40 pounds of material and information you are trying to cram into a 10 pound bucket.” I have consistantly reduced the quantity of the message, but I still struggle to find the best “10 pounds” that applies to everyone in the class.

The training is hosted by the MN BCA, and conducted by the Center for Applied Leadership. The class has participants who are leaders in their organizations who have supervisory responsibilities or are aspiring to become supervisors. My goal is to create an awareness and provide some insights into the subject of spiritual fitness, and I get an hour and a half to do so. This year I came to the conclusion that I won’t be able to find that perfect “10 pounds”, but that I will always be throwing out a variety of ideas that everyone will receive differently. Again this year I was extremely pleased with the conversations shared after the class as well as some of the thoughts shared by participants during the class. Several people heard different parts of the message and applied the ideas to their personal situations. As always I learned a lot from hearing the experiences of cops on the job.

So once again this ministry brings me insight, success, learning experiences, frustrations, happiness, sadness…well, you get the picture. This ministry is like life, complicated but wonderful. Thanks participants, I always enjoy and appreciate the experience.

Take Care!

I had a nice conversation with a retired police officer yesterday. It was the first time we met and we both shared several stories of our careers, retirements, experiences. He told me a story about a conversation he had with an older cop when he was just starting out.

The old cop made reference to the newness of the young recruits leather. He said, “It still squeaks when you move doesn’t it? Well one day the leather won’t squeak and you’ll have a lot of days on the job. It won’t be as new and exciting as it is today. One thing you need to remember. Today, and actually every day, you will deal with someone who is probably having the worst day of his or her life. To you it will be just another day on the job, but it will be that person’s worst day. So don’t underestimate the importance of showing that person some compassion”.

I paraphrased this story a little bit, and my new friend doesn’t remember who first shared it with him. But even though I can’t give credit to its originator, I think it is a critical message for all of us in the professions to remember as we go about our daily responsibilities. Our jobs require that we be and act strong, principled, forceful, determined, safe. That we protect. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t also take on those responsibilities remembering words like kindness, gentleness and compassion.

Today I give thanks for the opportunity to hear these stories and pass them on for the benefit of others.

Take Care!

Hennepin County Chiefs of Police Association
Invocation 010308

Dear God,

We thank you once again for this opportunity to gather in the spirit of Public Safety leadership. We ask that you 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.

Specifically today we ask for blessings on the relationships we have with our public safety partners within the criminal justice system. As we begin a new year, help us to identify and cooperate with these professional associates who are also committed to caring for our citizens and our communities.

Again we thank you for this time together. Please guide us as we lead those who protect and serve our communities.

Amen

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and Holiday Season. I’ve taken a bit of time off from writing posts, more than I thought until I checked the date on my last post. We’ve been busy being a family of five for the past coupe of weeks now that Pete is home for his semi-annual visit from Fairbanks. We’ve had a great time doing all the family holiday stuff, the snow and cold weather has inspired me to put in some quality sled dog training miles (as well as Dan training miles to compensate for the holiday feasting). I’ve also done a lot of reflecting in anticipation of my 50th birthday next week. Stay tuned and you’ll get some of those reflections in coming posts.

I thought I’d share some numbers to those of you who have interest in who else has interest in reading my wanderings. I’ve got access to a lot of numbers about this site and visits etc. through Google Analytics. I’m not sure what all of these numbers mean, but here are a few. Feel free to comment if you have an understanding different from mine.

Jan 1 - Dec 31, 2008
3,914 visits
2,308 absolute unique visitors
7,446 page views

So, what does that mean? Well here is my perspective from looking at the numbers on a fairly regular basis. Roughly 1000 people have been return visitors to the site. But realistically, I think I have about 150 regulars that check the site on a once or twice a month schedule. I can see some patterns to when people visit and when they don’t. I don’t get a lot of comments on the site but I do get a fair amount of e-mails through contact us. My goal is to give the site a little more structure this year, but that will come after some educational, financial, operational program commitments. But I’m not going away, the feedback has been positive so I will continue writing, please continue reading!

Take Care!