ChristiTutionalist Politics | Christian Perspectives on Constitutional Issues

CTP (S3EOctSpecial5 BAWks:1-3) Grief, Plainspoken and True

• Joseph M. Lenard | Christian Activist & Author in Politics

Share episode

"GIVE FEEDBACK (no-reply-text (2-way comm: https://JosephMLenard.us/contact))"

CTP (S3EOctSpecial5 BAWks:1-3) Grief, Plainspoken and True
[BOOKS / AUTHORS Weeks - Week 1 sub-episode 3 (Wed 20251015)]
We explore grief without turning it into a checklist, and we learn how mentoring, listening, and even awkward honesty can support real healing. Doug Lawrence shares the story behind Grief: The Silent Pandemic and why writing became part of his path forward.
• Books & Authors Weeks context and setup
• Doug’s RCMP background and mentoring journey
• Why grief “stages” are guides, not rules
• Asking for help and accepting support
• Embrace the awkward as a practical skill
• Listening without fixing as core care
• Writing as therapy and public service
• Overview of Doug’s three books and themes
• Awards recognition and audience feedback
• How to reach Doug (http://TalentC.ca) for mentoring or questions 

Support the show

JLenardDetroit SUBSCRIBE-
Author, Blogger, Podcaster

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Constitutionalist Politics Podcast, aka C T P. I am your host, Joseph M. Leonard, and that's L-E-N-A-R-D. C T P is your no must, no fuss, just me, you, and occasional guest type podcast. Really appreciate you tuning in. Graham Norton will say, let's get on with the show. Hello everyone. Welcome to Books, Authors Weeks. October of 2025. I had Health Weeks in February of 2025. I had a Music Weeks, three of those in the month of March 2025. So here we are October. I have a lot of fellow authors I had the chance to have discussions with. So Books, Authors, Weeks, October 25. Without further ado, let's head into a discussion with a fellow author. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Christitutionalist Podcast. Joining me today is Doug Lawrence. Uh you remember the old video game, Dig Doug? I'm gonna call you Dig. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding, right? I've been called worse. Yeah. Yeah. Joining me is Doug Lawrence, author of brief, the silent pandemic. I've got all kinds of health issues, but I dare say my most silent pandemic is I got no money. I'm broke because of my health issues and my disability. That's my pandemic. And anyway, all kidding aside, and that's you know, not really a joke. It's my life, unfortunately. But welcome to the show, Doug.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you. Thank you. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and you know, it says here in the write-up from Mickey, grief is a profound and universal experience, a natural response to the loss of someone or something deeply cherished. Yeah, for many, the journey through grief is made even more difficult by a lack of personal understanding and a society rife with misconceptions about what it means to grieve. Now, like I we all know kind of some people give it different names. I call it shock, denial, anger, and acceptance mainly because one of my favorite artists, Rick Springfield, has an album by that name. Others call the four or five stages of grief slightly different. But indeed, the one of the biggest problems could be getting hung up in one of those stages, I would imagine.

SPEAKER_00:

That's the biggest issue, right? You just hit the nail on the head because what it ends up is if you follow along those patterns or those stages, people start to realize, or it's not real, I start to think that, oh gee, I missed one. I gotta go back to the beginning and start all over.

SPEAKER_01:

And right, it's a rule of thumb, it's not hard and fast. You've got to do right. If you can skip a stage, whoa, good on you, right? But yeah, and I got ahead of myself here. Let's put the truck in bat in reverse, right? Beep, beep, beep. Who the heck is Doug Lords? Where were you born and raised? Where are you now? That sort of thing. Let's I I skipped that proverbial usual first question, so let's get back to that one.

SPEAKER_00:

Saskatchewan-born, Saskatchewan-born, rough riders, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I just saw Rough Riders. We're recording today, is Thursday, September 4th, uh, over Labor Day weekend, Saskatchewan played the blue bombers. Uh, I don't remember who won, but uh, I didn't put them on. Oh, do you? Did you lose? No, no, you won? Okay, you beat the bombers then. Yep. Anyway, I got us off track already. But so you were born and raised in that area and you're still there now, or I'm uh no, I'm not.

SPEAKER_00:

I I'm in Regina, Saskatchewan now. So I'm a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer, and I kind of bounced around just a wee bit. So I took my training here after I uh finished my high school and tried to decide what it was I wanted to be when I grew up and ended up joining the RCMP, and as a result of that, ended up being stationed in a number of different communities all over the territories. So I was up in the high Arctic and then bounced all over the place. I think I had 11 or 12 moves in the course of my career. So, and and then I evolved to a place where I retired from the police force, got into management consulting, got into leadership, got into mentoring, got into the aspect of mentoring and grief and and dealing with grief, dealing with grief using mentoring techniques to be able to do so. So 3500 hours of mentoring experience, 260 podcasts. I yeah, that's enough.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and I'm sure you've heard this joke before, but those in the south and the you in the states who aren't used to dealing with Kanuckians, may what does our CMP stand for? Royal pain in the ass.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I used to vacation over there all the time. I I you know it's it's just a joke, people. It's just a joke. Yeah, I had very little action interactions with RCMP really. OCP would encounter them, of course, all the time, but not the RCMP actually, because those kind of the duties are what is the RCMP more like what we would have or call a sheriff over here as opposed to standard police, or how would you make that distinction between OCP and RCMP?

SPEAKER_00:

The RCMP are primarily tasked depending on where you are. So if you're here in Saskatchewan, they are your police force. So they they uh they deal with the criminal code, they deal with provincial uh statutes, they deal the basically with everything. And you if you were to take a look at the RCMP in a in a federal jurisdiction, like say Ontario, they would be dealing with customs and excise, they'd be dealing with some drug stuff, everything to deal with federal acts, they would be actually dealing dealing with it in in Ontario. It would be different in in Canada for sure, because I did policing in in communities, small rural Inuit communities, where you would never see that, you know. Certainly it wouldn't be something that OPT would be.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and for those who don't know, that's an a native tribe that you mentioned, the Inuits, right? I I don't know how to properly pronounce it. How's it pronounced against Inuit? Okay, I I was close at least and any you're not here to talk about any of this anyway. It's just an interesting aside, right? Wherever the rabbit holes open is the ones I dive down, but indeed. So grief counseling, you've been involved with what motivated you to then decide I've got to write grief, the silent pandemic book.

SPEAKER_00:

I had lots of interaction with friends, colleagues, and that who had lost loved ones and were going through some stuff, but more importantly, I lost my wife to cancer in 2021, and I had to deal with that grief and still am dealing with that grief.

SPEAKER_01:

That wasn't very long ago. No, no, no, so and and everyone has to move. I don't want to say move on, that's the wrong terminology, but shock, denying anger, acceptance, right? At least accepting, coming to grips with the reality of the situation, not moving on, but accepting, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, uh, and and I think you know, you've already mentioned it where we all deal with grief our own special way, and you know, you you you need to be able to you need to be able to reach out and say, I need help. And what I typically will tell people is come out of the closet, extend your hand, and and ask for help, and help will be there, but we can't get there if we don't begin the journey.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, yeah. I I I dare say you would agree with the statement. The worst thing you could do is just try to pretend you could deal with it all yourself and magically heal.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's you once again you hit the nail on the head.

SPEAKER_01:

So we we all need I again, I I don't want to use the word crutch, but help to some degree, friends, family, whatever. Just someone if you're in a funk you can talk to, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's I always that's why I'm kept relatively busy is because I I offer up myself to be able to help people navigate you know their healing journey and stuff like that. And that's you know, that's an important thing that we all need to take responsibility for.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, helping others allows us to help ourselves at the same time. Very biblical concept there, right? It it's not all about us in helping others, also, we land up helping ourselves. It's why I too write books. Some are fiction, some are nonfiction, but indeed, if I can in any way, shape, or form help someone else through something or think through something, like in my terror strike's coming soon to a city near you, there's a major suicide prevention sub thread through it. Because that's another thing. You can't everybody's situation is different, and you you can't fix them. All you can do is say, I'm here if you want to talk to me. I may not be able to help you, but I will do all I can to help you find the help you need if I'm not what you need.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, so yeah, short answer is yes. The the thing to always remember is though, that when you think you cannot help is when you can. And a large part of that is I I tell people, I just need you to listen and hear. I don't need you to pass judgment, I don't need you to share what it is that we're talking about. I just need you to listen and hear. And it's okay if you say something that you think you shouldn't have said, or you don't know what to say. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, there's yeah, there's a I I used to play hockey, so I'm a big NHL fan, right? And they the NHL had PSAs called Embrace the Awkward, right? Uh oh awkward, I don't know what to say, but I know something's up with you. I'm here for you. Embrace the awkward, yes? Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And don't be afraid, you know, to to maybe say something that the person may take offense to. That's how you're gonna learn.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, honesty, like being honest in that situation, I think, is an important thing. Even if, as you said, you say something that might come out wrong or whatever, and upset someone, if it's an honest part of your interaction and process, it's better than them walking away feeling like oh, they don't really give a damn. They're just stringing me along. I was, you know, it was I complete waste of my time. They really don't care. That would be the worst you could do.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and the other part is that you don't know what to do, and and but if you admit that, that's not a problem.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, yeah, that's right. That's right. Yeah, it goes back to, like I said, I may not be able to help you, but I'll be here to try to help you find the help.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I may be that shoulder that you need to cry on.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. That that intermediary between where you are and where you need to be, someone else along the way that can help you better. I could be that stepping stone for my. But at times, sharing your story through written word can also help heal. I know a lot of people, I have a book, how to write a book and get it published, hence, tips, technique, and techniques, because they don't know where to start, but they realize hey, if I write a book, even if it's fiction, it can help me work through things, and that again, I can help myself by helping others through this book. We could come together and have a meeting of the minds and maybe help each other.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, you know, and what I have found with because I've three books now, and the last two have been very well received, but I guess the most important thing that I have experienced is uh writing the book as therapeutic.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly my point, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, and and and being on your show therapeutic.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, it can be, right? Well, except I'm a jerk, so I don't help anybody. It's a joke, people. It's a joke, right? If we can't laugh at ourselves and poke fun at ourselves, we should have no business laughing at anybody else. So now you mentioned you have three books. Uh, I mentioned Greece, the silent pandemic. We may as well mention the other two.

SPEAKER_00:

So, book number one was my entry into the writing world, and it was a book that I wrote all about mentoring 101 is kind of how I describe it, and it's the gift of mentoring is the title, and then that prompted how sexist, no women again, a joke.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a joke, people.

SPEAKER_00:

The second book is you are not alone, and that takes us deeper into the understanding of mentoring, mental health, and and those elements. And there's lots of stories that I could could share that explain some of the things that I went through where when I was stationed in the northern northern Canada, it kind of comes out of that second book, the You Are Not Alone part. And then we jump forward to book number three, which is the the one that we're talking about. Right. Grief, the silent pandemic.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, I want to I want to throw in, I've tossed in some lame puns here. This is very serious topic, right? So let me, you know, I'm not trying to make fun or belittle this topic, but my point in doing this is humor can sometimes help also the healing process, right? We gotta keep a sense of humor, yes? Yes, and you mentioned the you're not alone. Oh, absolutely. So many people, as said before, might get stuck in a stage of grief or whatever, because they think, oh my god, I'm the only one ever gone through this, no one can relate, no one can help me. No, just knowing you're not alone. I might not be the person to help you, but you're not alone. There are people who can and be willing to help you, yes? Yes, yeah. We need a little more than yes or no answers. Just kidding. Oh so agree, the silent pandemic. Is it go through like the stages or without giving us major spoiler? I we want people to buy the book, I don't want you to give away the whole book, but indeed, what will they find in the book that will help them?

SPEAKER_00:

They will they will get an understanding of the different steps to go through, or that you may go through, I think is probably a safer bet.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, right, because everybody's situation is different, right? You may or may not your mileage may vary as the saying goes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. And then it's also there's some personal stories and stuff in there. Like I talk, I share some experiences that my wife Deborah and I had as she was going through cancer and being diagnosed, and and some of the different scenarios. There's some passages in in the book that people have already started to rely on. The the fact that they've said, you know, this was happening to me, and as I as I was dealing with it, your voice came through loud and clear, and and it was with your guidance that I was able to continue to move on and team our battle, right? So so there's you know, there's been some feedback that we've got as a result of some of that that's been really rewarning. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, now you're an author. I'm not, I mean, there's a bazillion podcasters, a bazillion. So but have you ever thought of maybe like having a grief the silent pandemic show where you talk about things about all three of your books that indeed can help people vocally? And and if you do video too, I do five video channels, 25 plus audio only channels, uh, to give people a chance. Everyone learns differently, everyone and wants right, some are visuals, some are audios, some want to read. Like right before you came on, I was going through my Christitutionalist politics three book, getting it ready for publication. So I'm doing a show through people who want that way and books for people who want that way. Have you ever considered doing a podcast, or you just prefer being on shows like this?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I've done both. I I have to be honest, I've done both. I I have hosted and I just seem to keep coming back to, you know, I it's almost it's almost like it's validation that my message is the right message when you know a podcast host calls you up and says, Would you come on my show? I just for me it's it's it's the validation, I think.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And and just for sake of behind the scenes, you and I kind of know each other through Mickey Mickelson, who's a publicist. Uh, he's got a lot of people, a lot of authors mostly that he represents. And and and like I've told him, I would love to have every one of them on, but unfortunately, I can't. I I don't do an everyday show. So I I do like Saturday monologues and then usually a Wednesday guest drop, but I've had so many extra guests on that I've recorded, I'm doing Tuesdays and Thursdays, but still that's only two guest drops a week. So I'd love to have everyone on, but he sends me the the sheets, and and indeed I I got the sheet right here that he sent. Oh yeah, definitely want to talk to Doug.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and and you're the first host that I I'm gonna share this that the griefs asylum pandemic did very well in the global book awards this year, where we were we were successful in achieving three different awards. So the bronze, bronze for I gotta think about this for a minute now. Silver was for spiritual growth, and then bronze was for grief and bereavement, and the second bronze was for I'm trying to it doesn't matter. I got another bronze.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey, you're running out of shelf space, right? Hopefully they keep coming. That's great. Uh do you have when did grief the Simon pandemic drop?

SPEAKER_00:

April 20th, 20 2020, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, so it's been quite a while then.

SPEAKER_00:

So indeed it would be 2021, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, still almost four years. So indeed, is there another in the works that you want to share, or it's shh hush, hush, top secret?

SPEAKER_00:

It's a secret, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You you never want to talk about a book and give out the title. You always need to write like in hints, tips, and techniques, etc. You develop a working title that you're willing to share, that if it doesn't quite give it all away, and it won't be your final title. So if somebody else takes it, it's not a problem.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, yeah. And we we did that with Grief, the silent pandemic. We kind of kept it on the QT and and then maybe throw out a little teaser or two every so often just to kind of bait the hook.

SPEAKER_01:

And yeah, there you go, right. That's that's the marketing and promotion side of it. That's the other thing. People think it's one of the hints, tips, and techniques in my how to write a book and get it published, right? You don't just put out a book and you're done. No, books don't usually go viral on their own. You've got to work, you've got to promote, you've got to show up on shows like this. Uh, you have to have Mickey send out releases.

SPEAKER_00:

There's lots, you know, that nobody knows the full amount of stuff that goes on behind the closed doors. Really, right?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, well, and there are so many new authors, new books released literally almost every hour of every day. So the competition out there is fierce. The point I like to make is there's a market for anything. I know someone needs your book. The point is, how do you let them know? How do you and them get together so they know the book they need from you is there and available. It doesn't work through osmosis.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I I typically try to, you know, give examples so tell stories so that people can say, Oh, I can relate to that and I need to get the book, you know, and and and then go from there. And then on top of that, I always make the offer to if people have questions or problems or issues they're trying to deal with, they can reach out to me directly and we'll have a conversation to see what we can.

SPEAKER_01:

I was gonna start to wrap it up. And the obvious question at the end is do you have a website for people to reach out to you?

SPEAKER_00:

I do, and it's www.talentc, so the word talent with the letter C on the end.ca. And you can go to the website, and it's like most websites, it's got a place where you can send a message in that. You can direct message me on LinkedIn. And failing all of those, you can send me a message direct to my uh email at Doug.lawrence at talentseed.ca.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, that sounds good. And I'm gonna wrap it up with a joke, right? I don't know that anyone should trust you. You know what the saying is about people with two first names. Right? Doug Lawrence. What's your middle name? Just for giggles. James, Doug James Lawrence, but there was not a Doug Lawrence publishing, so you were able to avoid the necessity, like me, Joseph M. Leonard. I have to have the middle initial in there because there's a Joseph Lennard last name. His French, mine not, mine Leonard without an O, but spelled the same. So in order to distinguish, I've got to put the middle initial in there. You didn't have Somebody steal your name first before you got it.

SPEAKER_00:

No, my mom made sure of that.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. Well, thank you, Doug Lawrence, author of Grief, the Silent Pandemic. I also wrote down the second one, You're Not Alone. What was the first one? I didn't write that one down. Gift of Mentoring. Gift of Mentoring. Thank you for your time, Doug. Take care. God bless.

SPEAKER_00:

God bless.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for tuning in to books. There will be several different books. Authors. Several different authors. Books, authors, weeks for October of 2025. And remember, you can check out my books at Josephmleonard.us slash shop. And again, Joseph M. Leonard, it looks French. It's French, it's not Lennard. It's Leonard without an O. And I have to put the middle initial in there because there is a Joseph Lennard, who is also a Christian author out of South Carolina. So I have to make that distinction. And going in line with books, authors of weeks, I've joked as guests on other shows. I am not he, he is not me, and neither of us will be confused for Shakespeare. And frankly, most writers out there are not going to be confused for Shakespeare. They're not trying to be. There might be a few that, you know, looking for that Renaissance era feel, but hey, it's a new millennia, people. Right? This is the here and now. It isn't Shakespearean Renaissance area. If you're looking for Shakespeare, reread Shakespeare. Take care. God bless. Love you all. Like and subscribe to Christitutionalist Politics Podcast and care episodes. We need your help. Thank you for having tuned in for Christitutionalist Politics Show. If you haven't already, please check out my primary internationally available book, Terror Strikes, coming soon to a city near you. Available anywhere books are sold. If you have locally run bookstores still near you, they can order it for you. And let me remind, over time the fancy high production items will come, but for now, a starter, it's just you, as a very appreciated listener by me, all substance, no fluff, just straight to Steve Discussion Point, a show that looks at a variety of topics, mostly politics, through a Christian US Constitution. So again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Take care. God bless.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Joseph M Lenard

Host