I was wrong.  

As much as I hate to admit it, it happens. 

As I began to write, I came to realize just how much, personally, I needed this interview.  Twenty years of law enforcement have changed my view of people and the world so much, that sometimes I just need a kick in the butt to say, “Hey! Don’t miss the forest from the trees!”  

Because they do exist.  

Unicorns.  

But they’re not really unicorns.  I’m just too jaded and cynical a person to see it.  Most cops, firefighters, nurses, military guys, counselors etc. have a fuzzy view of reality because of our constant and everyday experiences through the professions.      

“It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”  Frederick Douglass

Yes. Yes. And…….Yes.  Thank-you.  I needed that.  Many of the parents reading this need that.  Just let it sink in.  

Does a ten year old have any idea what he’s really doing when he says he wants to dedicate his life to God?  When he says, “I’m saved.”

Ridiculous, I thought.  I don’t want that for my own kids.  And somewhere deep in my jaded cop brain I just couldn’t stop thinking, that child has no idea what’s coming.  My kids will eventually be crushed by the world, and for now, they don’t need some fuzzy feeling, some emotional music, and some people they don’t know clapping for them, so they feel great about a decision they’re going to question, or not even remember, as the world closes in

Classic police brain.  Classic first responder mentality.  Negativity.  

Yes, I thought.  Life will eventually step in and show my kids what the world is, how it works, and knock that happy smile right off their face.  Then, and only then, can they make an informed decision about God.   But at ten?  No way.   

But then, I found a unicorn, and his name is Burke.    

Burke has a past.  But even as a police officer for over twenty-five years, it’s not a life or career shrouded in mystery or masks or fraud or depression, or even holding the job as his identity. 

It’s a story of love and guidance, good decisions and leadership, building up a child with purpose and strength so that they don’t need to be repaired.  Boring, you say?  Maybe, but I call if refreshing, and pray every day now that my own children’s story as they continue to grow is, boring. 

Can a saving faith as a child sustain?  Can God really call and lead starting at a very young age?  Can a parent’s influence really carry through throughout the years even after their constant and literal presence is gone? 

No, this isn’t a story about a mask or fraud or fake or secrets, or even Burke really. This is a story of great parents, a strong church community, and the leadership of the Divine.  A story of consistency, purpose, and love.  

It’s a blueprint and guide for parents on how to invest in their children by investing in their community, church, and family.  And Burke, a product of the investment, is a prediction of future results.  

This story may be a unicorn to me because of my circle, because of those I talk with on a regular basis.  But the truth is, they do exist.  

These men and woman don’t need to be repaired or rewritten.  They were crafted well, from the start.

Burke is living proof.  And as I look around my own church community, I’m struck by the fact that maybe, this really is more common than I give God, the church, or many parents credit for.  

And Burke, as a cop, has seen and dealt with it all.  First responders know more than most that evil, destruction, chaos, death, pain, sadness, despair, and much else chase everyone through life.  And you’ve read my book, you know what the job looks like on the inside.  A normal day, a long career as an officer.   What the scenes and the experiences can do to your outlook and purpose.  Normally, it takes a toll.  Normally, it takes its pound of flesh and lights up lives to the point that some first responders, many in fact, never come back.  

But not Burke.  

Honestly, he’s the person we, at times, love to hate.  No way, that dude can’t be that happy, that driven, that purposeful and satisfied with life.  

You’ve seen them. Maybe you are them.  A co-worker, a neighbor,  that lady that waves and hugs and lingers for just too long as she radiates love, life, and God.  She won’t leave you alone until she knows your second cousin’s name, your favorite meal, and your life story.    

For Burke, there’s no mask.  No fraud.  Raised in a Godly family in a connected and relational church all his life, he professed a decision for Christ at age ten.  

Ten.  

Lust, yes.  Vulgar language, yep.  Looking at, seeing, and doing the wrong things as he grew?  Certainly.  He was a teenager figuring out life like anyone else.  And then he was an adult navigating a new wife, kids, and providing for them all.  Struggles with marriage and parenting and work.  Of course.  

But through it all he was led and directed and focused on his faith.  On his identity.  Not as a cop, but in God.  He knew why he was there, in those roles.  And knowing your why, well, isn’t that what directs everything?    

There was a time though, even though he didn’t doubt God, He wasn’t necessarily sure he was doing it right.  

He found himself on his knees, crying out as an adult at twenty-three. “I don’t know what I’m doing!  Am I really a Christian?  Am I connected to God?  Lord, are you with me?”    

To Burke, if his faith were true, if he really was being led, he shouldn’t be doubting, having desires, and acting in ways that were against what he knew to be right.  

There came peace in his cry.  Just awe inspiring, calming, relaxing, peace.  It washed over him that night as he cried out, “where are you Lord?  Am I doing this right?  Am I really part of this?”

Calm.  He breathed it in, deeply, fully, knowing who he was, and the fact that God was there.  The fact he was being led.  He knew his purpose.  

And then it was time to roll.  

Burke sat under the teaching of Bob and Betty Baggot.  His preaching, her teaching, on a personal level he learned more about what someone who called themself a Christian was.  

He became a husband, and then a father, a police officer, a friend, and a leader.  He became the guy that as we go to work and bemoan our situation, our circumstance, there he was.  Happy, offering a kind word and a pleasant smile in his calming southern accent.  

Looking for opportunities to serve and help and be a light to someone, somewhere, many times a day.  

He led his own family as his parents had led him.  He credits Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham AL with being a community, an honest place to be and grow and invest in.  One that also invested in him.     

Active in the church.  Connected to others.  Consistent in devotion and pursuit of the spiritual.  It was ingrained in his life.  

Were there dry times of busyness and life trying to take over, of course.  But God always won.  

Christ brought Burke salvation through his parents who raised him well. Direction, purpose, expectations, structure, and love.  Parents.  

This is a story of leading children in the image of Christ, and trusting God to lead from there.  It’s the story of parents leading with pure intentionality and raising a child in the way he should go so that when he became old and began to lead his own life, no matter the storm, he did not turn from it.  

His parents, now in their nineties, still go to the same church they took Burke to at a young age.  They knew the importance of who they were, what life was, and how they were going to raise their children.  They knew what Burke would be up against as he grew, and what the world would throw at him.   

I do wonder if, at times, they ever felt like a failure as I often do when my own kids and I don’t see eye to eye.   But I’m sure, as they look over their son’s life now, they know that the little battles, and the big ones, were worth the sacrifice and heartache. 

Burke will never know necessarily all the people he’s been an example to, the fruit he’s bore, or the success stories that will stem from the impact he’s had.  Especially on the job and with the hardest of hearts to speak life into.  Cops.  

All he knows is that one day he’ll find out, as he crosses that line between living in the world, and living in the spiritual.

So this goes out as a thank-you to Burke and to his parents, for helping me find the unicorn, that really isn’t a unicorn.  You can look at many families and many churches where parents are involved, connected, and using their village to imprint their child’s minds with all that is important and vital.  So those kids can be raised and productive and stand against the things that the world will surely throw their way.  They are raising whole kids who won’t need to be repaired in the future, and will foster generations of strong, healthy children and families to come.  

So, thank-you to the parents.  And to Burke. I needed a bit of a different perspective this week.

Proverbs 22:6  Raise up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not turn from it.

Written by: Chad Campese 

Connect with the story?  Shoot a comment to Burke.  Let him know you appreciate him sharing.  And if you’ve read the book, or even if you haven’t, I’d love to talk.  To share your story.  To remove the mask many of us wear as we head in for yet another Sunday service. Or, as some of us purposefully, and feverishly, run the opposite way.   Shoot me a message now at Chad.Campese@gmail.com.

Chad Campese is a father, husband, police officer, blogger, and author of the book Confession of a Christian Fraud.  He holds a BA in Christian Counseling and psychology, is heavily involved in peer support and recovery when it comes to first responders,  and is an expert in living his life and faith as a fraud. These days he simply relies on the leading of the Spirit as he tries to slowly and purposefully take life one day at a time.