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Hello.

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I'm Chaplain Steve Norden of the Detroit
Division of the FBI.

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I have had the humbling privilege
serving the women

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and men of the FBI
as chaplain for 11 and a half years.

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We chaplains in
the FBI are one of the pillars

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of the EAP program,
the others being peers,

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those who respond to critical incidents,
and also those who are EAP counselors.

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We provide emotional and spiritual support

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to agents, analysts, management,
and professional staff.

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As you listen to these stories, you're
going to hear some that inspire you.

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You may hear some that tug
at the strings of your heart.

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And I hope that you'll hear some
that beckon you to consider

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being an FBI chaplain.

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We're physical.

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We're intellectual.

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We're emotional. And yes, we're spiritual.

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Our first responders go through a lot.

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They really do.

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And having been in the office for so long,
I know sometimes they just want to talk.

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They just want someone to listen,
and they want to kind of reflect on things

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that they've gone through
or are going through.

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So I think we lend a presence
to help them in this process.

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If you're going to do the work for the calling that you're getting from God himself,

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you need to be present.

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You feel it. You know it.

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You experience it with the living,

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including the people, the souls that are
crossed over the other side.

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I can attest to the fact that it is

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truly an amazing service.

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You're really given the opportunity

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to serve those who serve us

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in incredible ways. Sacrificing themselves.

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Running in when everyone is running out.
And to be available

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to have that opportunity to just listen,

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comfort,

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and be present

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when they are suffering,
I think it's important

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to have chaplains in the FBI offices

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because it is a ministry of presence.

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I remember when I was first offered
the opportunity,

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I wondered, you know,
what could I offer

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these great Americans
who are the best at what they do?

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I have found

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that just that ministry of presence to be

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just a guiding light in my chaplain work,

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Being a chaplain is a way of extending

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your understanding of the world of God

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and human beings and human care
and...and what's right and what's wrong.

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It's good to have a perspective
that comes in and provides

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a perspective that can be spiritual,
that can open up and answer questions.

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Some of the worst questions
we would ever get.

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What you're dealing with are women and men
who serve the agency in the Bureau,

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who serve throughout the country,
throughout the world,

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who have a just a broad amount
of experience that invites us to a unique

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kind of ministry that you really don't
find at, uh, at a local level.

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It's a wonderful ministry of presence
that invites

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any law enforcement chaplain to
be present to a unique group of folks

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whose lives are dedicated
to the service of this country.

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One Saturday evening,

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I got a phone call from a colleague
in the county police department

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where I work,
and he said, "You're an FBI Chaplain."

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I said, "Yes, I am."

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He said, "Well,
we have a kind of a situation, and we think

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it would be helpful if we had one of
you guys out here at the situation."

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Turned out that

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an agent's daughter had committed suicide.

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And so I went to be

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with the agent outside of his house.
We had nowhere to go.

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So basically, we took the agent,
invited him into my car,

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and we sat in the car
for a couple hours.

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The special agent in charge showed up,
and he was extremely helpful.

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He was wonderful at the...at this event.

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But worst
possible moment in a person's life.

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And that was just,

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you know, it doesn't get much

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worse than that for a father in a family
and everything else.

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And so, taking him from there
and being with him

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later on during visitation
before a funeral, it

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allowed him to know
that he was not alone, that

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not only were his colleagues in the FBI,
but there was spiritual support

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that he was getting at that...at the time
of a very difficult moment in his life.

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It gives you a satisfaction.

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It's...you don't want bad things to happen,
but when they do,

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you really want the people in your care

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to have someone they can talk to,
and you can be very helpful in the worst

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moments of an agent's life or an analyst’s
life, or anyone else working in the FBI.

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In August, which was two months
after I became official

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in the Cincinnati branch,
we had an incident

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where a man attempted to break into

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our branch
with the intent to kill agents.

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And even though
I had not been in the Bureau very long,

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it was the first time that something like
that that was on the news felt

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very personal to me
because those were my friends.

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And so, when I got the call,
I wanted to be there.

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I wasn't afraid.

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And when I showed up,

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I think one of the most
meaningful experiences for me

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was just, throughout that day,
the all of the busyness,

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the coming and going,
the people from headquarters arriving,

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just the friendships that I had made
just in two months,

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people coming up to me and saying,
"Thank you for being here.

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We need what you do.

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I'm so glad to see you at this time."

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And, for me, it was very meaningful,

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very early in my tenure

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in the Bureau,
to realize that just showing up is enough

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sometimes to say what you want to say,
even when you don't have the words

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and you don't have any expertise to offer
other than just your care

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for those people.

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Your presence is really the most
meaningful way

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to support the people
who are dealing with such difficulty

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and working so hard
for the benefit of everyone.

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In July 28th of 2019,

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there was a mass shooting
in Gilroy, California.

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Shooting killed three.

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In that particular setting,

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it was

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my role as an FBI chaplain

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that invited me to kind of utilize
all the different kinds of skills sets

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that one would use

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as a law enforcement chaplain,
and and in a way I'd never done before.

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In in that mass shooting situation,

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the chaplain does whatever is needed.

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I remember doing everything from listening
to folks to making runs to Starbucks

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to make sure our personnel get
whatever they need. I remember one

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Bu personnel asking,

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"Hey, Chaplain, can you get me a rosary?"

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I remember going to a local Catholic parish.

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I'm a Catholic priest,
but I wasn't particularly dressed

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as a Catholic priest at the time.

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I was like, "Hey,
is there a place I could buy a rosary?"

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But I knew that one of our Bu personnel
really wanted a rosary on that scene.

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So it's one of those occasions

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where you're doing
everything and anything in service

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to the incident and in service
to the personnel that are on the scene, 

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both Bu personnel,

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personnel from within the community,
local law enforcement.

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But just being able to represent
the Bureau and its desire to be present

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to the community,
in all different aspects, it really

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just was a...

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a fruitful

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and fulfilling experience for me
as a Bureau chaplain.

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Now I've been with the FBI
for over 30 years, and in that time period,

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I have met some truly

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incredible and amazing people

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and have been part of some

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historical events,

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some truly tragic events.

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In the Pittsburgh office,

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we have had two agents

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who have died in the line of duty.

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Also, on 9/11,

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I was the first chaplain
to arrive to assist

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at Flight 93 in Shanksville.

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Those experiences taught me a great deal

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about human courage,
faithfulness, integrity.

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Self-sacrifice,

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no matter the cost, to do the right thing

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and to care for others.

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When you think of what

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our agents are exposed to in those types

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of events and investigations,

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evidence recovery. As a chaplain,
I look at them

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and say, "This person before me

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is an amazing human being."

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And anything that I can do as a chaplain

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to provide them
with some comfort, encouragement,

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hope, friendship,

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support.

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To be able to pray together if they wish.

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To be able to just be there.

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It's truly an honor.

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To do this

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gives you and me an opportunity

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to give back

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to those who give so much of themselves.

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If you are in ministry

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as a Rabbi, Iman,

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a minister, a priest,

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and you are afforded the opportunity

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to serve those who serve us,

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I highly recommend you consider

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the invitation.

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Love.

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We need to share it.

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I can be in front of...
be in front of an FBI agent,

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one of the most hardcore, 
gung-ho, Marine Corps,

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Army Corps,

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it doesn't matter.

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They could be the most hardest hardcore,

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like a rock. Like a piedra.

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But I can guarantee you one thing.

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God has love, and God
finds a way to get that heart.

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And by the time you know
it, that individual, that soul,

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we're embracing.

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That's love.

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That's what it's all about.

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The FBI Chaplain corps is con mucho amor,

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con mucho caridad.
With a bunch of love and a lot of care.

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You're invited to a world that invites you
to be a part of that particular scope,

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that not only do you broaden
your sense of perspective in so far as

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ministry is concerned,
but you engage in an opportunity

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to serve your country
by ministering to the people who have

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the best interests
of our country in mind.

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And I think that's pretty cool, if you ask me.

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The opportunity that we have to be
there, to be a friendly face,

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is just some of the most rewarding work
that I have found in ministry.

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Something that I feel like
any person of faith would find

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very natural and very meaningful,
personally, in your faith.

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I'd like to encourage clergy persons,
men and women,

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to think about becoming a chaplain

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for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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I count it a joy.

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I'm excited that I had this opportunity.

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And I believe it's a once-in-a-life
opportunity.

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And I think folks have gifts,
skills, and talents

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that indeed
our first responders could really use.

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So come on, think about it.

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I think you'll be glad that you did.

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If you'd like to consider being an FBI
chaplain, I encourage you

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to contact the employee assistance
coordinator in your field office.

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She or he will be willing to meet with you
and explain the requirements

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and the expectations of FBI chaplaincy,

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and if the two of you determine
that this is a direction

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in which you'd like to head,

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she'll contact
or he will contact executive management

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to see if there is a need
for an FBI chaplain in your division

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and whether or not
you might be a good fit.

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May God's peace
and God's blessing be yours.