Being Calm in the Midst of the Storm

Those of you who know me know of my desire to be a road chaplain for a police department. Yet for many of you, I haven’t explained why I have a passion for it. For me, I feel called to this position for many reasons.

One of the toughest parts of the job, as any officer will tell you, is doing death notifications. To have someone arrive at your doorstep and tell you that your loved one is dead is a bit of news that nobody wants to hear. The care that the chaplain extends to that family differs depending on the chaplain. Some might make the notification and leave. Others may stay and calm the family while calling a family friend or pastor to take care of them.

My hope is that I can be a chaplain who helps restore shalom. One definition for shalom is, “peace. Nothing missing, nothing broken, wellbeing, and complete.” For a family whose life has been torn apart by tragedy, I would hope that I can do what I can to help them get the resources they need to deal with the grief they are experiencing. And to an extent, that trajedy will always be a part of them… shaping who they are. The difference has to be the resources available to help put that person in a direction that will bring them to restoration.

If I were to have a mission statement for my chaplaincy, it would be this quote by Jonathan Edwards:

“The strength of a good soldier of Jesus Christ appears in nothing more than in steadfastly maintaining the holy calm, meekness, sweetness and benevolence of his mind, amidst all the storms, injuries, strange behavior and surprising acts and events of this evil and unreasonable world.”

Or to look at scripture it says this, “the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16)

In essence, hopefully I can be a light in their darkest hour or I can surround them with people who will help them through the trouble times.

One of my favorite music videos is by Simple Plan. The song is “Untitled” and as you watch it, you will see the depth and emotion that goes on when a family experiences something tragic. Their world is shaken dramatically. So as you watch this video, remember that amidst all that darkness, chaplains can be a light.

Untitled
Simple Plan

I open my eyes
I try to see but I’m blinded by the white light
I can’t remember how
I can’t remember why
I’m lyin’ here tonight
And I can’t stand the pain
And I can’t make it go away
No I can’t stand the pain

Chorus:
How could this happen to me?
I’ve made my mistakes
got nowhere to run
the night goes on
as I’m fadin’ away
I’m sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?

Everybody’s screamin’
I try to make a sound but no one hears me
I’m slippin’ off the edge
I’m hangin’ by a thread
I wanna start this over again

So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered
And I can’t explain what happened
And I can’t erase the things that I’ve done
No I can’t

How could this happen to me?
I’ve made my mistakes
got nowhere to run
the night goes on
As I’m fadin’ away
I’m sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?

I’ve made my mistakes
got nowhere to run
the night goes on
as I’m fading away
I’m sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?