How to make a difference: Let's make sure the good cops keep on protecting and serving their fellow human beings

I did not know Ogden Police officer Nate Lyday, but I know this: In the midst of the sort chaos, unrest and turmoil that has me, personally, struggling with genuine feelings of anxiety, I am comforted by the idea that there are brave men and women who run toward danger while others are running the other way from it. Even in today's divisive climate ... ESPECIALLY in today's divisive climate.

Officer Lyday, whose funeral took place yesterday in Ogden, Utah (a city that has come to mean so much to me), protected and served. And he gave his life doing so, responding to a May 28 domestic disturbance call. He was only 24 years old.

Considering June 6, 1944, and contemplating what it means to believe in something bigger and better

I wrote the following blogpost back on June 6, 2016. It's about an experience I had while visiting Normandy, France. While there, I got to visit an American military cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. 

The post I wrote just four years ago meant a lot to me because it conveyed the powerful feelings I felt as I considered the Allied soldiers who fought so bravely for something far bigger than themselves. So many lost their lives on June 6, 1944, paying the ultimate sacrifice for ... us. And many of those who survived D-Day went on to help liberate Nazi concentration camps. Think about that! We, who enjoy incredible freedom even in a time of great turmoil and chaos, have the freedom to worship, work, play, speak freely, and yet, even protest, in very large part because this country's greatest generation lived and died for something than itself.

We have the freedom to believe how we want, and to not just fight for, but live for, something bigger than ourselves.