(submitted by Kerry Patton)
“Be my mighty
rock, the place where I can always run for protection. Save me by your command! You are my mighty rock and my fortress. 4 Come
and save me, Lord God, from vicious and cruel and brutal
enemies!”
Psalm 71:1-3
What Must Their Eyes See!
There is a violence to what the eyes
can see in the course of a given day. We
don’t regularly think about it. We
normally think about and are very concerned with violence in the inner city,
the rise of drug related and gang violence, violence on the playground, and
domestic violence…we certainly want our children and families to be safe; and
as parents we may find ourselves concerned about violence in movies and video
games too. We are concerned about how
the senses of our children can become numb to…desensitized to violence, death
and the acts of killing that occur on the big screen…and the small ones.
There is a violence though, that I pray
you and I live our entire lives and never become exposed to. It is a violence that our First Responders
face…if not every day; it is far, far too many days of their lives. I have heard a few of the stories…and I dare
not repeat them here…but suffice it to say:
·
It is the First Responders who walk up to the
automobile accident scene and free the broken bodies from mangled steel, or
rush into the burning building in attempt to save those perishing on the inside.
·
These are the heroes who place themselves in
danger…who when performing a simple stop for a traffic stop, may at any moment
face the barrel of a loaded gun in the hand of the confused, the frightened,
the enraged, or of the drug distorted mind.
·
It is the Police officer, the Fireman, and
the EMT/Paramedic who willingly step out the door of their home on a daily
basis, knowing that in the course of an average patrol, they may well come into
contact with the very depths of human suffering and depravity…or they could
face their own death.
·
They rush toward suffering, violence, danger,
and potential death…and they don’t do it for great reward…they do it for us.
As a volunteer for the Parker County
React team, and the P.A.D.R.E. program, I am provided access to hear the
stories, the testimonies of how First Responders not only protect and rescue,
but also of how they survive and cope with the violence of what they see and
hear on a near daily basis. They cannot
un-see what they are exposed to.
Depression is common. Isolation and withdrawal a common trait. One officer, in his late-thirties, noted that
when he started as a young officer, he thought he had the best job in the
world. He loved carrying the gun,
driving the fast car, going after the bad guys.
Now years later, he remarked how he is changed. Calloused in many ways…fatigued in others. He is tired.
Retirement is his hope for relief.
I take the opportunity to speak with
First Responders as I encounter them in our community. I ask them if they are aware of the
Shield-A-Badge program, and confess that our church prays for them every single
day. I have never received a single
syllable of disapproval. To a man, every
responder is very, very grateful for our covering of prayer. “Keep it up!” they say. “We need every single
prayer. Thank you!”
In encourage you, if you aren’t
already…to join our Shield-A-Badge prayer program. Every day, individuals, and families take a
little time and bow their heads to pray for the safety, wisdom, and families of
First Responders. In our home, Laura,
Benjamin, Sydney, and I gather in our living room each night and include our
First Responders as we pray for our family, our friends, and ourselves. We pray for their marriages, their finances, and
their protection. We ask God to give
them favor with all those they encounter, that they be given wisdom and
discernment in conducting their duties…and we pray for God to help them cope
with all that they see. For they see…so
very much.
Will you pray…for our First
Responders? I thank you for doing it.
Prayer
Almighty God, we pray for the First
Responders. So often they are unappreciated,
even unnoticed until we call them for help or rescue. Yet they are there at the ready, always
serving, always protecting. We ask that
you protect them, O God. Minister to
them, and through them as they protect and serve our community. Let each of them turn to you for strength,
courage, wisdom, help and hope. And help
us to always be encouraging, and supportive of them. And finally Father, make us sensitive to what
you would have us to pray for, as we intercede for them. Tune our hearts to your voice that we might
best become your hands and feet. Amen.
