Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

It's a funny thing about life, if you refuse to settle for anything less than the best, that's what it will give you. So true, Officer Cook and every day or night for your career, you only gave Dade County citizens your best, one hundred percent maximum effort. Nothing illusional about your brilliant career. You saved the day and now God has saved a great heavenly reward for you and your comrades who gave up something vital to people succeeding in society, their existences! Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

Experience teaches us in a millennium what passion teaches us in an hour. For all your life, you always taught us to do everything in an honorable fashion and then you would reap your heavenly rewards. Now you are Officer Cook, reaping what you sowed and much more can any ordinary person can imagine. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. If you were with us longer there would be more to share and for you to pass on to us, but what you left for us serves as your everlasting legacy.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

The world is full of partial stories that run parallel to one another, beginning and ending at odd times. They mutually interlace and interfere at points, but we cannot unify them completely on our minds. Your story Officer Cook, is well documented in the historical archives of Dade County, Florida officers who gave their lives in the line of duty. For all of your twenty-five years of life you had the makings of an excellent police officer. Resourceful and full of pride helping make Dade County streets a little more safer. You fulfilled this part and much more than meets the eye. You truly were a blessing sent to us from God's heaven and now God has taken you back to your eternal home to be reunited with your beloved father, Charles, may you both rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. You're truly missed by me and all those so near and dear to you.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. The simplest explanation is always the most likely. You discovered how truly remarkable one could be if you, Officer Cook utilized ingenuity and you did to the utmost to steer you clear of most problems. Clearly you were one of Metro-Dade Police Department's version of the thinking man's police officer. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

The past is not only that which happened, but also that which could have happened but did not. Longing is all that lasts. We long to see you, Officer Cook, but we know your soul is stirring up in heaven helping lead us to great avenues for our pursuits. If we could have stopped that awful day from happening, we would have and you would have been back home with Karen. She misses you and I'm pretty sure she thinks of you as does your wonderful family, friends and peers from your department. Regrets are as personal as fingerprints and your loving hands can still be felt touching those officers gently and guiding them to safety each day as they pursue evil in their communities. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

Police officers know when they sign on to become officers of the dangers and risks associated with the profession. You knew this my neighbor, friend and hero, Officer Cook. We don't get to choose how we're going to pass, or when, we can only decide how we're going to live. Now. That was your motto of your life. Avery fulfilling one indeed, lived by faith and directed with dignity and grace and this was one of the reasons that Karen married you. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

An adventure is a transgression you don't regret. As burdensome as the police academy was, I'm sure it had some lighter moments, I don't think for a second you had any regrets about becoming a police officer, Officer Cook. You all the talents, the maturity, the wisdom and wit, all the key ingredients to make for yourself a successful career. Yes at times we could say it's an adventure, but it's how you take what God gives to you and you are able to mold it into something pretty special. You were that kind of individual, Officer Cook. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

How can you say luck and chance are the same thing? Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterwards. You changed people's lives immensely by taking chances and by being bold and cunning. This is what helped you, Officer Cook, to maintain your police career with honor and dignity. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

The past is never where you think you left it and unfulfilled desires are dangerous forces. You followed through on most of your aspirations, Officer Cook, now if only you were here today, the world could witness a truly marvelous and one courage human being. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. Your past will always hover in North Miami beach, Florida and in the streets of Dade County, Florida where you patrolled them with vigor and vitality.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

If you can learn from hard knocks, you can also learn from soft touches. Police officers all have to learn and be disciplined in so many different ways. Sometimes, Officer Cook, it amazing he they each respond to different environments and problems that can crop up from time to time. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

The soul is here for its own joy. Your body and brave soul, Officer Cook, combined to form one mighty powerful being in helping to fight crime. For all you produced in this world and of your courage so vital to your tasks at hand, may you rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 22, 2013

A person's inner sense of self and mission in life directs his choices of what to do and where to go. It is ours to choose between blessing unhindered progressive development; and curse-emptiness, shallowness, worthlessness. through our own free choice, we can create for ourselves one or the other of these alternative conditions. Your life, Officer Cook was a very well balanced one. Your goals were set from a young age until you grew up to become the man you became, the officer you you were and then God took you up to His heaven to be reunited with your beloved father, Charles and your colleagues who sacrificed themselves as faithfully and with distinction as you did. Never to be forgotten. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

I believe ordinary Council itself becomes an inner process. In a way each person there is alone, looking into the reflections of themselves in the stories, reactions, personalities and spirits of the other people in the circle. It's like sitting in a circle of mirrors and seeing yourself reflected either directly by people giving you personal feedback, or indirectly by associating with the stories and experiences other people are sharing...So ordinary Council triggers the inner work because it's an outer manifestation of the collectiveness of Self. Initiation....leads from one state of consciousness to another...As each state is entered three horizon enlarges and the comprehension includes more, until the expansion reaches a point where the self embraces all selves. If I can sum up this reflection for you, Officer Cook, basically after you learned your lessons being on the force a while, you were able to direct and give positive advice and feedback to other officers and it was very much appreciated by them. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

An honorable human relationship-that is, one in which people have the right to use the word love-is a process, delicate,violent, often terrifying...a process of refining truths they can tell each other. It is important to do this because it breaks down self-delusion and isolation.. It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us. Once conform, once do what other people do because they do it and a lethargy steals over the finer nerves and faculties of the soul. There can be no reconciliation where there is no open warfare. There must be a battle, with pennants roaring, before there can be peaceful treaties and enthusiastic shaking of hands. We wish on May 16, 1979 we could have had a meeting of the minds, hands in the air giving up, dropping his weapon on the pavement, instead of police officers like you, Officer Cook and your comrades lying there fighting for your very lives and a young man surrendering and being given the assistance he very much needed. But you and your comrades were all heroes and God needed you then to assist Him with the rigors of your job in His glorious kingdom. I change myself, I change the world. You certainly made one gigantic and very important sacrifice most mere mortals would never entertain any thought of doing. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

We are of the earth, made of the same stuff: there is no other, no division between us and "lower" or "higher" forms of being. Nature has been for me, for as long as I can remember, a source of solace, inspiration, adventure and delight; a home, a teacher, a companion. That's what you were to us as citizens of Dade County, Florida, Officer Cook and to your beloved family and friends who truly valued their friendships with you. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. nature does not move in a straight line and as part of nature, neither do we.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

Intermittency-an impossible lesson for human beings to learn. How can one learn to live through the ebb tides of one's existence? How can one learn to take the trough of the wave? It is easier to understand here on the beach where the breathlessly still ebb-tides reveal another life below the level which mortals usually reach. In this crystalline moment of suspense, one has a sudden revelation of the secret kingdom at the bottom of the sea. Death, in its way, comes as just as much of a surprise as birth. Your passing wasn't in vain, Officer Cook, but it serves as our "wakeup call" that we need to pay closer attention as you so faithfully did to all the important details of our tasks if we are going to accomplish them in the end. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

Every child is an artist. the problem is how to remain one as you grow up. The imagination needs modeling, long efficient, happy idling, and puttering. You could have been an artist, Officer Cook, and the streets of Dade County, Florida were your easels used to serve and protect its citizens of which you did quite well. There is no love so pure it can thrive without incarnations. As you rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero, hopefully one day all those who loved you will see you again, glowing in God's ever shining skies.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

In a society that judges self worth on productivity, it's no wonder we fall prey to the misconception that the more we do, the more we're worth. The end of a thing, is never the end, something is always born like a year or a baby. When you fulfilled your duties and made the ultimate sacrifice, Officer Cook, your physical labors in this world were completed sadly for us all, but your eternal journey did just begin and it's a never ending one. A much more difficult assignment to carry out that is for sure, but one that we all know you are up to, Officer Cook. You enjoyed and relished a challenge and now you can rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero and succeed in helping keep peace from those "Golden Streets" in heaven that I just reflected upon.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

Ritual provides us with a way of taking responsibility for our lives through the use of the metaphoric process. At the time of a milestone or rite of passage, we can shift our focus from the minutiae of the event to the way the experience fits into the grand plan of our life. What is spoken during a ritual has a much greater impact than if spoken in normal space-time. Because of this, choose what will be said and how it will be expressed with great care. You put your responsibilities into practice everyday and that was why you succeeded on the force, Officer Cook. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero and keep up with God's heavenly rituals.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

Rituals are formulas by which harmony is restored. As human beings, we live just this side of an invisible membrane separating our day to day consciousness from the miracle of creation. ceremony, by its very makeup and by the language it speaks, has the power to sidestep our rational minds and to penetrate this membrane, allowing reentry into the Mystery. Each daily act performed with attention and respect sacralized the objects of daily use, so that living itself could become a ceremony. And never one to stand on ceremony, Officer Cook, you achieved honor and created a good name for yourself through deeds and compassion. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

The universe is made up of stories/not atoms. The difference between mad people and sane people...is that sane people have variety when they talk-story. Mad people have only one story that they talk over and over. There can never be a dull moment for a police officer that's for sure, Officer Cook. Sometimes the pleasure you receive from your profession is when you can succeed in qwelling a bad situation. You always gave your best Officer Cook and can never be faulted ever for doing this. What you brought to your department is the legacy that you took to heaven and God clearly sees this when he is judging you for the best. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

We are always afraid to start something that we want to make very good, true and serious. What in your life is calling you? When all the noise is silenced, the meetings adjourned, the lists laid aside, and the wild iris blooms by itself in the dark forest, what still pulls on your soul? in the silence between your heartbeats hides a summons. Do you hear it? Name it, if you must, or leave it forever nameless, but why pretend it is not there? You were certainly not a slacker, Officer Cook and procrastinating was not your custom. But rather boldness and integrity were the symbols that enabled to become the top officer that you were for six excellent years of faithful duty to all. Next week at The Dade County Police Memorial at Miami's Tropical Park, we will gather to remember you and your fallen colleagues, nearly thirty four years after your tragic passing. If I see your family members it would be great, at least I can be comforted by their presence, as your very soul will hover overhead as the helicopters will do flying by. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

There is an "allness" to community. It is not merely a matter of different sexes, races and creeds. It is also inclusive of the full range of emotions. Tears are welcome, as well as laughter, fear as well as faith. These emotions were a part of your make up, Officer Cook and it helped to get you through your days and nights on the department. You were ever the optimistic person who knew through hard work and many hours dedicated to your studies that you would truly become the man who made his parents and sister and wife very proud, but also the loyal and honorable public servant of the citizens of Dade County, Florida. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

Fallen Heroes: From the time I was conceived, God had a plan for me. He wanted me to get involved to help my fellowman. I know some were against it, but God knows what is best. Now that I'm at home with Him, I have perfect rest. Heaven is so beautiful, I'm walking streets of gold. Now that I'm serving others, including saints of gold. I know some still have anger about the way I died, but God sees and bottles every tear you cry. As difficult as it may be, please don't hold a grudge. remember this my loved ones, God alone will judge. Then on that resurrection day when all the dead will rise, the Lord will reunite us together in the skies. Soon we will be together, never more to part, until then just remember I'm as close as your heart. You surely are, Officer Cook, but when can still be a bit downtrodden over your until passing. But until then, you are with your beloved father, Charles, may you both rest in peace, my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 21, 2013

Trusting our intuition often saves us from disaster. Crazymakers are those personalities that create storm centers...Charismatic but out of control, long on problems and short on solutions. Crazymakers like drama. Police work can be dramatic and have many tense moments. Just ask the men and women of the police departments of the State of Massachusetts who captured a second bombing suspect and killed the first suspect. They were brothers who for some unknown reason wanted to take innocent lives at the Boston Marathon Race on Monday and tragically killed three people including an eight-year-old boy. How sad! You had to deal with a sad episode nearly thirty-four years ago that took your life and nearly that of your comrades. But you showed moxy and resourcefulness in handling the rigors that your profession demanded. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

April 20, 2013