Seeking Christ in Critical Incidents

Our legal system is based on Judeo-Christian principles in which God has given us the authority to do our work. Experiencing critical incidents is a part of our profession, no doubt. As we seek to process the personal aftermath of critical incidents, it’s valuable to remember that we are more than just flesh and blood.  While a number of various groups have organized and published programs to utilize and offer a measure of support, may we determine to go to God when problems arise, rather than abandoning the unlimited resources found in the Bible. 

People help us and give suggestions, but realize that even those with the best of intentions and the greatest degree of compassion are merely human.  Those giving aid have struggles too, and even those who would give spiritual direction, lack the ability to give a flawless individualized answer.  Rather than relying on someone who is not perfect, we can find that a deepening of our relationship with the Lord has far reaching benefits.  A supportive counselor can help, but Christ is the only one who can guide us into all truth. The Lord is never deficient, and we can depend on Him to completely understand, provide enlightenment, and bring hope and healing to us.

Pride–Your Personal Assassin

An assassin takes any advantage that affords itself and uses all kinds of devices in order to take down the target.  These trained agents masterfully disguise and deceive to accomplish a mission.

Satan himself is the master assassin and instructor in pride. Our flesh latches tightly to that innate selfish sinful tendency.  Just as the devil, the original assassin, can appear in different forms (2 Corinthians 11:14), so pride, our personal assassin appears in many different ways with the same purpose in mind–to kill. Pride destroys relationships. God rehearses instructions to us about the pitfalls of pride and the view we are to have toward it. 

David approached the battle with the Philistine in I Samuel 17, with humility.  Just because you’re a man after God’s own heart doesn’t mean you don’t fight and do what needs to be done or say what needs to be said.  When we engage motivated by pride, others are hurt, and so are we.  At the root of destruction, pride is found.  Certainly, since God is the one who “teaches our hands to war and our fingers to fight,” He has equipped us with the key to carry out our duties including the use of force, in humility.  The only thing stronger than the assassin of pride is humility.  We have the source of humility within us if we know Christ.  He is the Master of Humility.

Phillippians 2:1-8 “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” When you humble yourself it will be seen.  We train for many things in our profession, let’s determine to be instructed in the humility of Christ, realizing we are just dust held together by God’s hand.  We need not die on a physical cross, but we can die daily to our own will and let Christ be seen in our lives.

  

 

Suited Up For CERT

At times, all attempted means to resolve a situation are exhausted, leaving no other alternative than to suit up and deal with it. CERT has a definite purpose in corrections that demands specific equipment designed to help its members achieve the desired outcome of restoring order in an unpredictable condition.

Various circumstances can increase the likelihood, but a potential for riot is always present in the corrections environment. However, the greatest tumults aren’t always faced externally with the inmates, rather the chaos is often found on the battle ground of our heart. The devil uses the daily stress and chaos of the corrections environment to push and beat us back, pulling us to and fro different ways, sending us reeling back and forth in confusion and discord.

Suiting up with the armor of God isn’t a last resort, it is the first action to combat the internal riots we confront and contend against on a daily basis. Make an assessment of the current internal riot situations of depression, actions of fellow staff, verbal abuse, disputes, confrontations, envy, hatred, fatigue, responsibility, duty, or other mutiny that may be rising up in your heart.  We don’t back up in a riot, we push forward, continuing with force, even when it involves an individual that has proven to be hard to deal with.  Some internal riots are harder to face than others, and there are some battles we may dread fighting again, as we experience more resistance being put up from our flesh. 

Each piece of gear for a member of CERT has an important protective purpose, even though upon first examination and use, certain items may seem cumbersome and difficult to fight in, over time one grows accustomed to battling in it and experiencing the benefits, permanently fading any prior reluctance.  It would be dangerous to go into a riot scenario without all the gear on and fitted properly.  We have grown accustomed to trying to fight our spiritual battles without God’s armor on, lacking the protection that it affords, which may lead us to great injury.

God has made all the provision in His Word, we do not have to face the spiritual battles bare and exposed. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil. Just as  CERT members suit up for the physical riot, making sure they have all of their equipment on and fitted properly, let’s determine to make full use of everything God has provided for our defense against the riots of our soul.

Ephesians 6:11-18 “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in highplaces.Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”

Unbanned Protection

Corrections work has always posed physical danger demanding a need for personal protection.  Over time, various devices have been available to aid us in protecting ourselves and controlling inmates.  Our facilities differ in policies, protective equipment, and allowable practices which seem to be ever changing often with the inclusion of more restrictive limitations as we seek to conduct corrections operations in a safe and secure manner for all.

Although our personal protective equipment in corrections can be limited, our spiritual and emotional protection is limitless due to the attributes of Jesus Christ.  God is unlimited and cannot be bound. The encouragement necessary to combat every attack we face is supplied by Him, including any oppressive regulations related to being able to do our job. We can find Christ as our dependable shield of defense through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and prayer. As use of force reports get more complicated, the simplicity of Christ has not changed.

 

Will You Fight?

When I had completed the interview process at my department, the Captain who was interviewing me let me know I got the job.  Right away I thought of all the reasons I was not qualified and began to voice my hesitation.  The Captain looked at me and said, “Will you fight?”  I answered affirmatively, but not with intensity until the third time he posed the same question with emphasis.  At my third reply, he said, “You’ll have ample opportunity.” Indeed, the many battles continue in every realm–physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

The Psalmist David reveals that his heart is in the right place as he begins this Psalm 144 with praising God.  It is a good practice for us to learn to acknowledge and praise God in everything that takes place and in everything we are preparing to do.

God not only gives strength, He is strength.  It is a good thing to have strength.  Not everyone is equal in strength.  Strength comes from God—this makes it worthwhile.  Strength is no good without an ability and willingness to use it.  There are a lot of strong people that are not willing to fight—they have no desire.  Strength is no good unless it’s taught, trained, and used.

Corrections work necessitates that we not only fight in order to defend when attacked, but also that we be willing to go to the fight and not just fight, but prevail.  In corrections, we war every day—it’s a constant.   Our hands are taught and trained for the physical encounters, yet the spiritual battles outnumber the physical.  May our hands be trained to reach for the tools of war (the Bible) and our fingers to turn the pages. Psalm 144:1 “Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.”

Survival Challenge

Survival Challenge

In a 30 day survival challenge, a person is totally living off the land; eating what can be caught and prepared, facing the weather, away from family and normal everyday routines.  An importance is placed on knowing the main dangers of the setting for the encounter. These expeditions take place in a variety of settings including desert, wilderness, and arctic environments and in a variety of different countries, with a varying number of participants, yet all with the common goal of surmounting the natural world to survive. During this time, things are experienced that may be attempted to be related to loved ones, but they will never totally comprehend, no matter how hard they try.

When out in the elements, a shelter is constructed from available materials.  In this survival situation, your whole focus becomes on your next meal, water, fire, and shelter.  There are a limited number of tools and items that can be taken by the participants in a survival challenge. You are not really going anywhere or making any progress, and at the end, your only accomplishment is that you survived.  

Energy has been totally spent thinking, observing, and planning in these surroundings, where you are always trying new food items and devising creative plans to catch things. At the end of the experience where you’ve had constant exposure to the elements and been completely terrified at times, you are totally exhausted, and can only go home and crash, finding that family does not understand what was experienced or the full impact on the physical body. These demanding challenges test mental, physical, and spiritual endurance and resources, with a successful outcome putting us in a position of self-reliance, which feeds pride.

Numerous parallels can be drawn to corrections work, where our survival challenge takes place in a variety of settings, such as Bureau of Prisons, County Jail, or a State Facility, each location having its own unique set of daily dangers.  Here we are trying to find or build our own shelter, having left the security of our home. Every day presents a degree of difficulty in corrections work, however, not every day is a hard day during a survival challenge. Sometimes your concerns are more minimal if you have enough food and water to make it through the day because of an abundance you got the day before.  Incidentally, you may have to eat the same thing every day for a long time without any variety. In corrections, you may need to draw strength from the same set of verses for a long time. You’d like to have something different or may want things to change, but it’s profitable to return to the fundamentals, finding that some of the same passages from the Word of God are able to sustain you, like they have so many times before.  

In a survival situation, things that a person would not normally eat begin to taste good.  In order to discern, you have to be eating all the time. Job 6:30 “Is there iniquity in my tongue? Cannot my taste discern perverse things?”  We are to “abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good”(Romans 12:9); requiring us to feast on the Word of God daily to be able to discern the difference.  If we don’t, we may find ourselves feeding on destruction, thinking it’s good.

Seasons in corrections work can feel like a survival situation; we get in the mode of going from shift to shift, day to day, mandatory overtime to mandatory overtime.  As months role on, and we are routinely short-staffed, vulnerability mounts as extra duties pile on and additional demands draw our focus. Our professional tools are limited by out departments, but the Bible has an unlimited amount of tools in it that we can utilize in our personal survival challenge of corrections work.

May we remember, there is more to life than just surviving; even though our loved ones cannot fully understand, they need us to do more than just make it.  In corrections, the survival challenge is everyday.

Integrity

Integrity is where it all starts and encompasses every realm of our lives.  The dictionary defines integrity as “entire, the unimpaired state, particularly of the mind; completeness; moral soundness, purity, incorruptness, uprightness; honest, and whole.” This is quite a goal in corrections work.

Valuables are often locked up securely or kept in a secret place.  One of the most priceless qualities we can have is integrity, yet it is so easy to lose and the least guarded.  Maintaining integrity can be easier when there are no temptations around or when you are surrounded by others who have integrity, but it’s often hard to maintain integrity working in the hostile environment of corrections, whether it’s integrity of the body or the mind.  The devil knows how to work on our integrity with the particular struggles that we have as individuals in relation to the multiple facets of our duty. Ever have a sound, noise, or a voice that’s irritating? You can handle it for a while, then you have got to leave. What if you can’t leave? Your integrity will need to be maintained on purpose or destruction is inevitable.  Protect this valuable possession.

Samuel Richardson said, “Calamity is the test of integrity.” The body will lose some integrity due to age and other corrections environmental stressors. Our mind can lose integrity by intemperance and by the constant attack from the harassing load and constant weight of corrections work. Even so, there are practical things we can do to combat those losses.  Most importantly, spiritual integrity can increase continually: the older you grow in the Lord, growing and maturing as a Christian, the more integrity is gained. This is possible because of Jesus Christ. He is complete and entire. We are to have the unimpaired mind of Christ; Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  This encompasses the life of integrity that God calls us to live, including treating those in our custody right, using whatever level of the force wheel is necessary.

A Corrections Christmas Day

A Corrections Christmas Day

The family gathers round

They are missing you most

But they understand your duty

And the importance of your post

 

Thank you for your faithfulness

At your station this Christmas Day

I want to express my gratefulness

But it’s more than mere words can say

 

There is no one to pass the turkey

Or ring the Christmas bell

As you fulfill your vital mission

Checking cell by cell

 

It is still Christmas Day

Yet there are no halls decked with holly

And the scenery behind these walls

Is anything but jolly

 

No shared holiday traditions here

Of tinsel strewn upon a tree

And mistletoe under which to kiss

Or praying child on bended knee

 

Here in this concrete city

There are familiar things today

Of miserable choices and clanging steal

From which you’d like to turn away

 

One has responded to the call

Hope arises in my mind

He has brought a gift

A precious treasure to find

 

From Bethlehem’s manger to Calvary’s Hill

All the way to this jungle of concrete and steal

He has brought hope and peace for you

Strength and comfort that are real

 

The manger of Bethlehem was lonely and lowly

For our dear Saviour’s birth

May you fully comprehend

The excellence of His worth

 

I am thankful for you corrections officer

And for this gift of salvation today

So you can have the best and what matters most

This blessed Christmas Day!