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The choice's we make
may seem harmless at first.
Police chases when I was in High
School
One evening while I was walking along a busy street and I
happened to walk up on a fellow classmate who was resisting arrest
and the police officer was having a hard time trying to handcuff him
being by himself. They were on the ground, and the classmate looked
up at me and asked me for help to get the police officer off of him
so that he could escape. I knew it was wrong what he was asking of
me. And I also knew it was against the law to obstruct justice. I
told the classmate that your only going to make it worse, just
cooperate and it will be easier for you in Court. I knew the police
officer was thankful for my words as well as doing the right thing.
When that moment comes that defines who you are, and you have the
choice to do right or wrong to help a friend. Be a good friend and
give them the right advice that it's not worth it. You''ll be
blessed for not going to jail and your advice may be the right words
at the right time to turn their life around. As well as make their
sentence in Court a lot less in the pocket book as well as in jail
time.
We all owe a lot to police
officers for being there when we have to call them for
help. I remember one who gave me a break many years
ago.
How God blesses one good
deed for another
"God blesses those who are merciful, for they
will be shown mercy" Matthew 5:7
Not long after this
incident, God blessed me with managing a popular fitness gym
in town. I have always enjoyed seeing peoples lives change in a
positive way. I learned so much about fitness from friends of mine
that were bodybuilders and powerlifters and I wanted to
pass this knowledge on. One of the benefits of managing a
gym is you can let certain people in a hour or two earlier before
the gym opens to the public. There were several people from
different law enforcement agencies who asked me if I would let them
work out an hour or two before it opened to the public. I said
that'll be fine, they were from the local Police Station, Sheriff
Department and the Highway Patrol and it was a real joy to
watch these guys come in from these different law enforcement
agencies as friends and then once they walked into the gym. They
would literally partner up only with their own agency and give each
other a hard time in a fun way that guys do to which Agency had the
buffest officers. Both in strength and fitness. So they all had a
little contest in working out like the power lifters did in the
bench press, squat and dead lifts.
"I asked God for mercy that I did not
deserve, to spare me from a D.U.I. that I
did deserve" Reverend Michael Cartwright
Little did
I know that my destiny would bring me face to face with one of these
same Police Officer's. Even thou I was raised by my parents not to
get drunk. I still had a drink or two with my friends, including the
time I was at a party back in the 80s and I had a couple of drinks.
The problem is, It does not take much for me to feel the
effects of drinking, I just need one drink or two and I
probably felt like my friends who drank a six pack or more. I would
always smile at my friends and tell them that I would make
a cheap date. Because of this, I would normally be the designated
driver so I usually diden't drink. Alcohol affected me differently
than most people, If I drank too much I would think I was an
comedian and think that my dry jokes were funny, but the worse part
of it was that I would literally feel physically sick, and
nothing was worse to me than losing my cookies. it was probably one
of my Mom's many answered prayers from God.The bottom line is I was
invited to another party so I made the foolish mistake of drinking
and driving to the next party. I did not think I drank that much but
I found my driving less than perfect. All of a sudden I saw police
lights come on behind me and I asked God to help me and I will never
drink and drive again. And as the police officer came up to
me he recognized me as the gym manager at the place he
worked out at. He asked me if I had been drinking and when I said
yes he asked me where was I going in this condition. And I responded
with the wisdom of "Yoda." and I told him that "I had just left
a party because I wanted to go find this other one."
Loosely translated, "It's better for people to think your a fool
than for you to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
He said Mike if you forget the party, I'll let you
go home. I knew he was showing me the Mercy and Grace that I
did not deserve that I was asking God for when he first pulled
me over. I was never given a breath test and I never had to leave my
vehicle. I was so thankful for this act of Grace from this
Police Officer and I did go right home. Does God expect us to keep
our promises that we keep with Him? Always! It has been 30
years later and I have never drove after having a drink
with my friends again. And to this day I have never been in any
alcohol or drug related violation. Did God hear my plea to show
me his grace and mercy? I know he did. Did the Police
Officer have the choice to not show me the grace that most motorist may not get?
Of coarse he did, did he make a difference in my life in a positive
way for the rest of my life? In more ways than he will ever know.
I don't
drink much and if you ask my good friend Ron of over 10 years he
will tell you that it took almost 10 years for me to finally accept
a drink from him over dinner at his place. It's not because I have a
drinking problem and I have to stay away from alcohol, If I
am visiting a friends house and I know that I will be driving
shortly afterwards, I won't accept a drink, You cannot be
continually blessed by God by continually breaking your promises
with Him. The greatest way that I can honor God that I am
grateful for the time He has shown me His mercy and grace is to live
a life of total forgiveness and unconditional love for one another.
Just because I have never had a DUI does not make me better than
someone who has had one, or from one who has even taken a life in a
terrible tragedy. I thank God today for showing me the mercy
and the grace that none of us deserve. Our lives should be not to
judge one another but to love one another.
"Tragically, We all
know a loved one who has died because of drinking and
driving or Car Chases!"
And I'm
not proud that I was pulled over for drinking 30 years
ago.
W hen I was in High
school I knew a student there who was a tragic victim of a police
chase. What made this person note worthy to me was not just because
he was one of our High Schools basketball stars. (Names in book) It
was because he went to the same school I went too before this one
over on a island called Guam on Anderson Air force Base. It was
literally half way around the world from here. I only knew two
people from Guam who ended up at my next high school and he was one
of them.
It happened at one
of our high school dances. The evening started out normal with
the freezing temperature outside. It seemed harmless for
this basketball star and his friends who were outside in front of
the school to want to ask a fellow classmate if they could warm up
inside his warm car which had the heater on. The owner of the car
stayed on the outside of his car.
What happened next turned into
a Nightmare from Hell.
All of a sudden one of the students
in the car decided to start driving the car off the school property
and onto the freeway. Not one of these students had a driver
license. And to make matters worse they were driving in the dark
with the cars headlights off. And then the Police gave chase,
The high speed chase approached speeds over 80 to over 100 miles a
hour. The car that the students were in flipped over several times
and everyone sustained serious injuries. At least two of them
tragically died. The basketball star?... He died during the roll
over.
If
that wasen't both sad and tragic enough. I was
told that the basketball stars mother could not accept at this time
that she lost her precious son so early in the prime of his
life. I was told by close friends that she took her son's death very
hard during the first few days, and just like most loving
parents, she would be in denial at first. That she would wash
his basketball uniform everyday. Then fold them up and put them
neatly back on his bed each and everyday and say "He''ll be
back!...
If
we could learn from both of these students
tragic deaths, And if the loss of both of their precious
lives could save just one life by making us think twice about
drinking and driving or stop one police chase when a Police Officer
pulls you over. Then he would not have died in vain, and his
dear mother as well as the other loving parents would not have
suffered such a terribly tragedy in vain. Or the countless others
before them who had lost their loved ones in a senseless tragic
accident. None of these students or people were bad guys,
they were good people ready to go out into the world to make a real
difference. You could even say that they were the best of us all.
I love each and everyone of you
out there. So listen with your heart when I say this. What may seem
so innocent or harmless with your friends at first may at first seem
ok. If you or your friends have to drink, do not get in a car.
Nobody whose sane gets into a car and dies on purpose in a car
accident. That's why we call them accidents. What
price would the basketball star or his dear
friends or their parents pay to have
their children not get into the car on that fateful night. Will
you in honor of their deaths and the many countless
thousands that have died before their time. Not use alcohol or drugs
and drive, Will you honor God that your alive today by
keeping a promise to Him that you will never be under the influence
of alcohol or drugs and drive! God will bless you for
it.
There are many
wonderful organizations that are trying to bring the message to each
one of our hearts to not be under the influence and drive. May
God bless them and give them all the resources that they need, and
may they always have the heartfelt tenacity and compassion to
continual to stop all the senseless deaths that happen each and
everyday because of driving while being under the influence of
alcohol or drugs and driving. May God always bless all your efforts
for your blessed cause!
God believes in
you
Reverend Michael
Cartwright
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My Mentor the
PI
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