Article December 3, 2007 Issue

A POLICE OFFICER SHINES HIS LIGHT

BY MIKE LAGGART

FOR 25 YEARS I faced what many people might consider "evil" on a daily basis. As a uniformed police officer and undercover detective, I dealt with issues of violence and illegality that most people would find disturbing.

Like all officers, I received extensive training to perform my job safely and effectively. Yet I still had to find a way of coming to terms with this so-called shadier side of society. I didn't want to get drawn into characterizing people and life as hopeless, immoral, or devoid of good. As a Christian Scientist, I realized, I had a healing way of seeing the good in myself and the world around me—and that way was prayer.

At home I have a quotation from Science and Health sitting next to my mirror. It reads: "At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. Know thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil. Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity" (p. 571). During my time on the police force, I made a point of reading this quote every day before I left the house. It became an important part of my daily prayers.

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