Metro-Dade Police Department, Florida
End of Watch Wednesday, May 16, 1979
Reflections for Police Officer William Coleman Cook
Be passionately aroused by life. Cherish every moment, honor your commitments and treasure your kinship with all. A man of his word, that was what you dedicated to life and career to Officer Cook. You lived your days with a refreshing zeal not so often exhibited by others. Others should relish what you so faithfully relished and that was to live life with compassion, but do so with honor and dignity your position brought to you. Be firm and yet fair when it is needed the most. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Accept that you are a child of God. Sing your own song with gusto. Fulfill your mission as a co-partner with the Holy One in the unfolding drama of the universe. You and Karen were Officer Cook, partners in this blueprint we call life and now we have to summon the courage and fortitude to accept that you and your beloved father, Charles are a vibrant part of God's after life, looking down and assisting Our creator in protecting your fellow comrades who are serving communities to get a better grasp on evil and how it can destroy a modern world. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Follow your heart's boundless desire. It takes you out of yourself and fosters an appreciation for the multidimensional pleasures of life. You followed Officer Cook and God took you through your successes and simple enjoyments which you allowed yourself to indulge in from time to time. You were a multifaceted human being capable of doing many tasks without much aid. The sign of a very gifted fellow indeed. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Accept the unknown as part of life. Don't try to unravel the profound mysteries of God, human nature and the natural world. Love the ineffable. You certainly did, Officer Cook and you appreciated all the opportunities that God placed at your front door as did Karen. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Cultivate a vibrant curiosity and welcome the reports of your senses. The world is alive and moving toward you with rare epiphanies and wonderful surprises. Remember you are standing on holy ground. We can only wonder Officer Cook, what the world would be like if you were still here helping us shape the future foundation that a man of your great intellect help lay for others to walk through that door inspiring others to keep at it and to never give up hope. You never did. We shouldn't either. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Practice the art of seeing the invisible. Use the wisdom of your personal visions to renew yourself and your community. You always reviewed your actions, Officer Cook and put into live practice what you were taught by your instructors. You looked, observed, practiced and drilled continually until it was time for your final examinations and before you took to the streets to serve. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
In this age of global spirituality, respect differences but affirm commonalities. Work together with those who are trying to make the world a better place. Police officers such as yourself, Officer Cook, keeping working harder and harder each day to make their communities safer. It's because of men and women such as yourself, who make the ultimate sacrifices are we finally able to realize our hopes, goals, aspirations and dreams. Your visions of yesterday are our where our sights are set for tomorrow. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Welcome the positive changes that took place in your life. I would say to this that because of your sacrifice, Officer Cook, officers in Dade County now have the side-panels that were not there when you served. Obviously, death is always sorrowful and we are sorrowful over your untimely death, Officer Cook. But your wonderful soul breathes life into all your loved ones. God has opened His windows for a little fresh air and His wholeness and healing are waiting in His wings as He awaited for your ascending up His ladder. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Be willing to learn from the spiritual teachers all around you, however unlikely or unlike you they may be. Always be a sensitive student. You were always a good student and possessed the acumen to gain more insight from those you admired and wanted to learn from. You played the drums in high school, so you had to have an inner feeling and appreciation for the fine arts. Your humbleness, Officer Cook, was a very good way of exhibiting your dignity and integrity so essential in your position of fair and just treatment to all citizens you served. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Find this divine energy in your daily life and share it with others. You shared this Officer cook, with one of the most important person in your life, your beloved wife, Karen. For several wonderful years you enjoyed each other's company and set your priorities in order. You understood each other and the sacrifices the two of you had to make for one another. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Give imagination free rein in your life. Explore its images and ponder its meaning-making moments and it will always present you with something new to be seen, felt or made known. As an amateur photographer, Officer Cook, your vivid mind and sense of the outdoors served to allow you to be free a bit while off duty. You enjoyed your quiet times like any other officer and it showed. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Practice hospitality in a world where too often strangers are feared, enemies are hated and the "other" is shunned. Welcome guests and alien ideas with graciousness. Your parents and you and Karen, Officer Cook, always had your doors open and available to host parties and other happy occasions. It's a shame you are not with us physically to greet and embrace your friends, but we know you are greeting your friends in God's heavenly palace along with your father, Charles, as you rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. always
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Let this positive and potent emotion fuel your dreams and support your service of others. Through your attitudes and actions, encourage others never to lose hope. The ever present optimist, you always fought for and wanted others to succeed through your inspiration, Officer Cook. The charming charismatic person you were defined the quality of loyalty you displayed while on duty serving your community. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Spell out your days with a grammar of gratitude. Be thankful for all the blessings in your life. And you were Officer Cook. And we should all be too for having you with us for twenty-five wonderful years of endeavor. You changed a lot of lives for a positive result and this needs to be taken notice of. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. The last word of this reflection spells out the gentleness of your upstanding character. HERO!
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Accept grace and your world will be larger, deeper, richer and fuller. Look for its intimations everywhere. Let this seed of the Giver of Life bloom in your words and very deeds. Officer Cook, you were a man of your word and your parents knew the quality son that they raised to uphold the ideas and themes central to growing up with values, values so often missing in today's modern society. You always gave of yourself as did Karen and this is what life is about. Us, we and our have replaced I, my and me. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. Your horizons were much more broader than that of most individuals and this helped you maintain your humility.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
In both your private and public lives, discover the sweet release that comes from forgiving others. Feel the healing balm of being forgiven and of forgiving yourself. I'm sure as even-tempered and as a mild mannered gentleman that you were Officer Cook, it was easy to find forgiveness in everyone. Your calming demeanor was very evident from your first day on the job and until your last watch, trying your utmost to defuse a difficult situation. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Recognize and accept that there is another dimension to life than what is obvious to us. Live with obstacles, doubt and paradox, knowing that God is always present in the world. You lived by these theme, Officer Cook and it is what carried you in your career and made you the man you grew up to become. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
As duly sworn officers, it is your duty to help not only protect a community, but to assist in building it up too and not hold anything back. You celebrated your life, Officer Cook, with this intoxicating passion and it increased your zest in everything you touched, came across and crossed paths with. I'm sure you are exhibiting eternal zeal that will always beam down on those who knew and loved you fiercely. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Express your feelings of praise and adoration through devotional practices. Pray with words and pray through your actions. One thing your department did on May 16, 1979, was to pray for you, Officer Cook, that you would pull through. Nevertheless, you were the apple of your wife, Karen's eyes and the apple of your beloved family's too. Your heroic act of bravery will always be spoken of and perhaps it is utilized in training sessions at the Police academy for future officers to examine and to learn from. Your spirituality was something to be humble and yet proud of. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Yesterday, as I was driving with my wife, Holly and some seminary ladies we picked up at Miami Airport, we drove north on NW 27th Avenue, I said why don't we turn at NW 75th Street and drive by to NW 17th Ave. I was going to show her and the ladies the street sign in your honor. "Officer William C. Cook Street." Very fitting for such a classy humanitarian who reached out and connected with so many people from all walks of life. And this is exactly how your life was intimately related to all life on this planet. I always refer to you as my friend and neighbor even though we, never had the pleasure to meet and greet one another. If your mother, Mrs. Julia Cook, at age ninety-five could take the time to write to me and refer to me as this, I certainly can refer to you, Officer Cook, her darling son by this name as well. Rest in peace.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Open your heart, mind and soul to the pain and suffering in the world. Reach out to others and discover the rewards and obligations of deep feeling. A man of principle and character, you reached out to all who needed you, Officer Cook. Now as you rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero, let us reach out far and wide and remember your pious ways in which you made this land a better place for all to achieve.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 9, 2013
Live in the present moment. Don't obsess about the past or worry about the future. All you need is right here. That's exactly how a truly righteous individual as yourself, Officer Cook and your beloved wife, Karen, lived exemplary lives together in the holy bond of matrimony. So supportive of the other's career and believe me, she misses you today, even though I understand she remarried after being your widow for over thirty years. Never far away from our hearts and minds. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 8, 2013
Walk the path of beauty. relish and encourage its inward and outward expressions. Acknowledge the radiance of the creation. You experienced many joys in your twenty-five years, Officer Cook and because of a dastardly act perpetrated upon your innocence, the world is devoid of a brilliant diamond such as you. But your soul will forever shine brightly in God's everlasting firmament. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 8, 2013
Life is a sacred adventure. Everyday we encounter signs that point to the active presence of Spirit in the world around us. Something you always observed on duty, that was to pay attention and totally alert and look with receptive eyes and discover a world of ceaseless wonders. As many have noted about you, Officer Cook, you were among the wisest and more mature than your years and it was demonstrated by the high caliber service that you provided the citizens of Dade County. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 8, 2013
Goodwill is the mightiest practical force in the universe. Opportunities to express that energy are everywhere. And it was your goodwill and good name, Officer Cook, that brought countless joy and pleasure to all others. Your legacy is forever etched on a marble wall of honor at Tropical Park in Miami with your colleagues who gave their lives as well. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
April 8, 2013
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