A Letter From Pastor Dan Carlson

 

Dear Friends of Public Safety Ministries,

 

I’m writing to you today from my favorite place… I’m outside, not far from home, sitting by a campfire, coffee in hand after a wild blueberry and waffle breakfast…  I just had a nice conversation with a young forester who was checking the health of the trees in the area… And since we’re experiencing my favorite weather this morning, clear blue skies, mid 60s, light breeze, low humidity… Well, today this spot is just about perfect… a good place… a safe place… a safe haven.  And when I’m done here I’ll be heading out to get some work done… into the world to figure out how to take care of some of my responsibilities… to explore and discover what to do next… a bit of an adventure I’d say… and it sure feels like a good mix to me… I first read Alaska in 1990 and the words “Adventure… Safe Haven… Good Mix” have been a  guiding light in my life ever since. 

 

As many of you know, I am in the process of heading out on a new professional Adventure. I am transitioning from full-time, to part-time/semi-retired status in my outreach work with Public Safety Ministries (PSM). It’s no coincidence that I’m also transitioning from 40+ years of traveling through the Adulthood Phase of my life, into my Medicare supported, Elderhood Phase of life (you’ll be reading more about Childhood, Adulthood and Elderhood in future letters!). Along with these two significant life transitions, several operational changes will also take place. However, I want to share some detail on just one change that will be most impactful.

 

PSM has always built its outreach efforts on a ministry of presence, service and relationships. Traditionally we've been a mobile spiritual care provider, making regular house calls. But due to my semi-retirement, some of my capacities have become more limited. I’ll no longer be as present physically/on-site as I have been in the past.  Although I still make care visits in person, and routinely take calls from folks in need, I have explored and discovered a new way to be present that better fits my current capacities.  Through a new initiative Life Hike Letters, our ministry will be provided primarily through a virtual/on-line presence.  So, soon we will spend most of our time reaching out to people through the written word on-line, rather than the spoken word in-person. For more details on Life Hike Letters click HERE.

 

In addition to our new professional adventure, my professional Safe Haven is also in transition.  For over 40 years I’ve found comfort and safety within the law enforcement institution.  It’s where I had an identity, a community, a purpose, structure and order. Yes, it can be a dangerous and chaotic place, but it is also very safe and comforting in many ways. Professionally, it was my safe haven.  Even when I retired as a police officer, and became a pastor credentialed by the institutional church, my professional safe haven remained in law enforcement. That’s probably because I was deeply embedded there for so many years.  Or maybe it was simply a better fit for me, a place where I felt most welcome. Regardless, I left the security of my law enforcement haven, my institutional life, about a year ago when I concluded my last contract as a credentialed, agency police chaplain. But I’m not without a new place of comfort and security.

 

I haven’t been looking for a new version of institutional care and support, in fact I’ve actively avoided that environment.  But what I have found, or maybe it just found me, is a safe place, a comforting space, a haven… I guess… where I can explore retirement (semi-retirement:-). It's not an institution, but simply a community.  A community of relationships acquired over most of my adult life, a community that simply evolved.  Through good times and bad, through challenges with church and state relationships, through the chaotic as well as the calm times, we've been a community of friends and colleagues, all people who have traveled this ministry adventure together with us! The Public Safety Ministries Community,  our new Safe Haven! 

 

So there you have it...  A Good Mix!  I’m truly looking forward to this evolving new Adventure and Safe Haven as we continue to pursue our mission of providing spiritual care services to ALL those in need!

 

As Always..

With Care and Gratitude, 

Pastor Dan Carlson, November 2024​​