I Am You

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! This day right here...its going to be a great one! :)

Every morning, if I get it right, I get to the gym right at 5:00 a.m. I then listen to the latest episode of Focus on the Family as I work out. Yesterday they had Captain Ronald Johnson of the Missouri State Patrol on the program. Captain Johnson has written a book titled, 13 Days in Ferguson. He was appointed by the Governor to take control of security operations in the city of Ferguson following the shooting of Michael Brown and the subsequent days of turmoil and protest.

Captain Johnson inspires me! As I listened to this great man talk about his faith, his upbringing, his decision making, etc. I was awed. He thinks and acts as I hope I would in similar situations. Before going one step further, out of respect for the Lord and Captain Johnson, I would tell you that according to him, this is all the doing of the Lord, of the Holy Spirit within him. It is the daily seeking of the Lord that enables him to think and act as he does.

There were several great thoughts, and one big idea, that Captain Johnson shared that I want to share with all of you this morning. I have looked up the transcript from yesterday's talk and will be sharing the direct quotes from it with you. This morning, at 5:00 a.m., part 2 of this talk will happen. Hopefully I will get this Happy Friday done in time to hear it. :) I would strongly encourage you to search for Focus on the Family and listen to part 1 and 2 over the weekend.

One of the hosts was asking Captain Johnson about having to make life and death decisions quickly as a 30-year veteran. Captain Johnson, noting he had served 10 years on the SWAT team, stated in part, "But a part of you has to have this vision to see past what's in front of you and see the person..."
This challenges my spirit! Here is a man who has stood directly in harms way and he is saying you have to look past what is in front of you and see the person. Someone can say something in an unfriendly tone and I react negatively. I stop seeing the person. Look at any form of social media and we are saying incredibly hateful, hurtful things to one another. Yes, there are hurting, broken people that say and do horrible things. But they are still a person. Lord please give me the strength, courage, wisdom and vision to see past the situation and to see the person!

When Captain Johnson is asked about the police response to the initial incident, Captain Johnson says in part, " - we should have done a better job. And when I say we, it wasn't actually my department, but I wore that uniform. And so, it's always easy to buy into what's good, and then when mistakes are made, to separate yourself. And so, I never do that."
Anyone else just shift in their seat? It's always easy to buy into what's good, and then when mistakes are made, to separate yourself.... Sports fans are notorious for this one. Just listen to them, "We won" and "They lost." See it all the time. We can, and should, do better in all aspects of our lives.

When asked about the start of the incident, Captain Johnson says in part, "But it's always easy to judge when we're not in that moment and we're not there."
Please think about that for a moment Sweet Friends, especially in our social media world. Think of all the fights, arguments, etc. that we see. Everyone has a thought, idea, opinion about everything and 99% of the people arguing, fighting and spewing venom were not there. They were not in the moment. They know neither side of it, they simply know some brief clip of it or a picture. Wisdom tells us to slow down and not judge.

When Captain Johnson is asked where all the anger is coming from he responds in part, "And so, sometimes when we're confronting individuals, it's not necessarily they hate us as a person, but it's the institution that we stand for." He then continues, "But I think respect goes both ways. I think it's about conversation. And I would say the conversation can't start in the midst of chaos. Conversation can't start in the heat of the moment. And we can't respect each other when we haven't communicated beforehand, before incidents."
Boom! Please Friends, think about our marriages, our relationships with our children, our friends and our co-workers. How many times have we tried, to no avail, to start a conversation in the heat of the moment, when something has gone wrong. If we will slow down for a moment, genuinely love and respect each other enough to communicate with each other before something gets out of control, we would be so much better off - individually and as a society.

Such great wisdom! And then, there is this one big idea/thought that Captain Johnson shared that I want to serve as our challenge this week. Captain Johnson noted that he writes, "I am you" in every book he signs, no matter who you are. He goes on to explain, "Because, I think, in essence, we're all a part of each other in some way, and there's things that we share, no matter what our color and our gender and our beliefs."
Oh my Sweet Friends, let's live an "I am you" life! Let's stop looking for the differences, and beating one another up over them, and let's look for the things we share. How different our world would be! What a difference we can make!

Every human being who wakes up this morning has hopes, goals, dreams, fears, cares, concerns, worries. Every human being who wakes up this morning wants to be valued and appreciated. Every human being who wakes up this morning wants to be loved. Every human being who wakes up this morning wants to feel safe. Every human being who wakes up this morning will make a choice about their attitude. Every human being who wakes up this morning will influence the life of every other human being they will interact with today. Every human being who wakes up this morning has experience hurt. Every human being who wakes up this morning has experienced failure. I am you! Every. Single. One. Of. Em. (and countless others) I! AM! YOU!

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, and please cherish your precious families!

Kev