“Fly the Blue” Blue Ribbon Campaign Honors Law Enforcement

This coming week thousands will gather in Washington D.C. to honor the law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty this past year.  Though you may not be able to travel to the nation’s capital, you can still remember and honor our community’s police officers by tying a blue ribbon from your car antenna.

During National Police Week (the week containing May 15, which is National Peace Officer’s Memorial Day), Concerns Of Police Survivors encourages the display of  blue ribbons on car antennas. You can learn more about National Police Week and C.O.P.S. by visiting: http://www.nationalcops.org/.

I hope you will join the law enforcement personnel and citizens from across the country who have tied blue ribbons to their antennas as a reminder of the  police officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice and in honor of those men and women who serve their communities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year in and year out.  Any strip of royal blue ribbon will work.

I just finished an inspiring book.  The book is Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell.  Luttrell tells the story of his four- man SEAL team and their mission to capture or kill a Taliban leader near the Pakistani border in Afghanistan.  Their mission goes terribly wrong and soon Luttrell is the only SEAL alive, and he is wounded and fighting for his life in the dangerous terrain of killers and goats.

The book is filled with examples of courage, commitment, sacrifice and the inexpressible brotherhood of warriors.  Luttrell pulls no punches as he deals with the rigors of SEAL training and the incredibly high wash-out rate.  The tough training highlights the inner strength of those who press forward and graduate.  Later he tells us about the courage of his wounded teammates fighting against impossible odds, their love for one another and their commitment to their country.  His teammates weren’t the only courageous people in the mountains.  We learn from Luttrell about the honor and bravery of a mountain village that take him in and shelter him from the Taliban, and we experience the hate of those who killed his friends and who would kill us all if given the chance.

There were times as I read that I found myself angry, then shamed by the honor and love of those selfless heroes, American and Pashtun.  I also found myself inspired and encouraged by honorable and courageous humanity.  I was being challenged as I read and I like that. Then it happened.

You see, I can be a cheapskate.  In fact I bought this book at a used store for half price.  I fanned through it before I bought it to be sure it was whole and not so marked up that it would distract my reading.  It was good and I got a bargain.  But as I read almost to the end of the book, I found a partial sentence underlined in pen. The underlined passage had to do with a conjecture that good things always have a bad side.  As I read I slipped from the world of heroes and fell into the pit of misery that must have been the home of the previous owner.  I wondered who could read such a story, go past all the heroism and sacrifice and zero in on one partial sentence of fatalistic and negative philosophy.  What was this poor person like?  How did they survive in the world?  Did every sunrise remind them of dusk?  Were they like some vulture who flew over the most beautiful rolling green landscape looking for some rotting death under a bush?

In the SEALS and Pashtun, I found courage and faith; in the Taliban I saw blinding hatred; in the previous reader, I discovered entrenched and toxic despair.  How tragic.  Regardless of our circumstances, all things still work together for good to those who love Him.  We are not as those who are without hope!

Warning: Lone Survivor is an adult book with graphic violence and language.  Remember, I told you so!

Years ago Rudyard Kipling wrote, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you…” We live in a tumultuous time made worse by the cultural approval of a sense of selfish entitlement.  It seems that everyone feels they are owed something but no one (or very few) wants to be responsible for themselves.

Next week has been set aside as National Police Week.  As next week ends, special memorial services will be held in Washington and around the country to honor those who have given their lives during 2009 in service to their communities.  Since 1962, May 15 has been designated as National Law Enforcement Memorial Day.  Thousands will gather to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep peace in their communities and to protect their fellow officers and the innocent.

As I write this, the Officer Down Memorial Page (www.odmp.org) reports that line-of-duty deaths are up over 20% from this time last year when the total was 126.  Traffic accidents are always a significant contributor to officer deaths, and the last few months are no different.  What is different is that recently officers have been targeted for attack and ambushed, and the main reason is that they were wearing a law enforcement uniform.  Officers working in their cars on computers or together in coffee shops have been gunned down without warning.  Those who run toward the sound of gunfire to selflessly put themselves between harm and us deserve better than that.

If you agree, here are some things you can do:

Find some way to say thank you to a peace officer in your community.  “Thanks for your service, deputy/officer” will work just fine.

Tie a blue ribbon on your car aerial during National Police Week (May 9-15) to show your support and appreciation for the work law enforcement does.

Refuse to buy into the self-centered narcissism of our culture by living selflessly for Christ and others.  Your courageous contribution to the climate of our society can help change the culture, make our communities safer, and make the job of our law enforcement professionals easier.

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

For more information check out the COPS website:

http://www.nationalcops.org/