Dog Off Leash

Puppy

We were talking when Joe* whipped the U-turn, parked the cruiser and took a deep breath. A Rottweiler was loose and sitting on the front lawn. Joe spoke into the radio, walked across the street and started talking to the dog.

 Puppy and I seemed equally surprised.

View from windshield

Puppy shifted his one hundred and thirty pound frame from a sitting to standing position. He cocked his head and seemed to say, "Really Joe? You're walking on my lawn." Undeterred, Joe kept talking and walking slowly toward Puppy.

There was no Invisible Fence; no leash; no owner to gather Puppy. A cop, a big dog, scared neighbors and a chaplain all waited.  Puppy made the next move: he started walking toward Joe.

Joe patted his thigh and Puppy rubbed his forehead on Joe's leg. Then Puppy turned in a circle and did a little dance. Puppy wanted to play!

Lansing Neighborhood

Joe put the dog in the backyard, attempted to contact the owner and reassured neighbors. He never broke a sweat, put the police cruiser in drive and picked up our conversation as if there hadn't been a U-turn.

U-turn-whipping, dog-whispering, leg-patting cops need prayer.  We need people willing to speak kindly to dogs as frightened neighbors watch. Some puppies aren't so nice.

God made the dogs, the neighbors, the cops and the pet owners.  As a chaplain, I have the privilege of reminding each of them that God cares about the work they do.

*Not real name of officer.

Baseball

I live 20 minutes away from the Lansing Lugnuts Class A stadium.  More than fifty players have gone from the Lugnuts to the majors.

Slightly below Class A-Advanced are the full-season Class A leagues, the South Atlantic League and Midwest League.^[5] These leagues are a mix of players moving up from the Short Season and Rookie leagues, as well as the occasional experienced first-year player. These leagues play a full 140-game schedule, which runs from the first week of April through the first week of September. (reference)

   Proximity to the stadium is a mixed bag.  On one hand, excellence in teamwork is a privilege to behold.  Conversely, letting entire seasons pass without seeing a game is tragic.  My life's paradox was highlighted when Steven asked me to reflect on baseball. 

Steven cares about baseball, blogs about baseball, talks about baseball.  I care about Steven; our children know him as "Uncle Steven"; read Steven's blog and talk to Steven, who talks about baseball.  I didn't have a reason to share my experience with Class A baseball until Nine2go.

For me, baseball is a story of redemption.  I go to the park as often as many attend church.  If someone attends church only on Mother's Day, Christmas and Easter, they probably have acceptable experiences.  No heartache, not fodder for nightmares.  "This was nice, I should do it more often."  Mostly, attendance stops at the thought of visiting more often.

Baseball stadia are hallowed places for many.  I visit two or three times a year.  It's nice, I should do it more often.  Alas, my attendance patterns pave the road to hell.  An evangelist has been sent to highlight the error of my ways; to lift my gaze in pursuit of a more excellent way.

Popcorn, brats and dippin dots are proof of baseball's importance.  I have strayed from freshly cut grass, bleachers and rain ponchos.  Hope of catching a flyball has been smothered by my extended absences.  How will I endure without the antics of Big Lug, the Lugnuts mascot?  What kind of husband and father doesn't gather his family for autographs?

I was lost but have been found.  Steven found me denying my desperate state and challenged me.  I've seen the light, turned from the television and will once again cheer in person.   

Finishing Well

Norm and Oliver

"The end of a matter is better than its beginning..."
~ Ecclesiastes 7:8a

Norm Naimy ended a 25 year career with the Lansing Police Department (LPD) in February 2019.

His journey to LPD began in Southfield, MI when he was accepted to Northern Michigan University.  After graduation, he worked with Marquette PD until joining Lansing PD in 1994. Norm's family is connected to Kahlil Gibran, who wrote:

"Work is love made visible." Gibran the Prophet (1923)

Alex and Norm

The visible portion of Norm's work was Oliver, his K-9 teammate. Over eight years the pair conducted more than sixty-five statewide K-9 demonstrations for school children and community members.  Norm also became a mentor for officers in the fledgling K-9 program, including caring for dogs while handlers were on vacation.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms deputized Norm for work in the Violent Crimes Initiative.  Cases took him into other time zones, but he always called MI home.

I met Norm while riding along with another officer.  I saw him quietly support and direct junior officers responding to 911 calls.  Sergeants confessed their confidence in his leadership on the road.  During the awards ceremony, Chief Michael Yankowski called Norm one of his "early mentors at LPD" and a "hall of fame" officer.

He's excited about spending time with family and the new ways he will make love visible.

Creator, a Creature and Cops

You are allowing me to walk among a peculiar people.


Getting up the learning curve of police culture is a process.  Missionaries are sent to lands with different languages, ways and expectations.  The law enforcement community is a foreign country to me.  The deeper I go, the more I rely on You.  Are discomfort, "aha!" moments and adrenal dumps Your ways of keeping my eyes on You?  They're working.

I often feel inadequate, uncertain, a little scared.  Your sons and daughters have guns, knives, dogs, armor.  I have a Bible and I know how to pray.  How could I serve unless You called?  I heard You call; it'd be nice to hear You over doubts.

I hear You in their doubts.  On the radio, between calls, over snacks and meals, I hear You through them.  Do they hear You through me?  Seeing the spiritual impact of coffee, donuts and burgers is difficult some days.  Introducing people to You seems a lesser thing when I'm trying to stay awake on third shift.

You are teaching me police culture. Fixing my eyes on You reveals cops often feel inadequate, uncertain, a little scared.  Worship helps me see; helps me serve.  Worship helps me recover.

Bad dreams, hypervigilance and cynicism require recovery.  Your radiance jealously smothers my ills.  Prayer allows me to go again; to listen again; to wait again; to learn and laugh again.

May my work reveal You.

You are allowing me to walk among a peculiar people.