Participants:
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC202011S
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00:38 >> Hello and thank you for 00:39 joining us on 00:40 It Is Written Canada. 00:42 >> It has been said that the 00:43 only greatness is the 00:45 greatness of humility 00:46 and if you think about it, 00:47 truly great men and women 00:50 are always humble 00:51 and teachable. 00:53 And René and I witnessed the 00:55 truth of this the other day, 00:56 first-hand when we visited 00:58 City Hall and we met our 01:00 mayor, Mayor Dan Carter. 01:03 >> Dan welcomed us into his 01:05 office and openly shared his 01:07 time, his wisdom, and his life 01:09 story with us. 01:11 >> Dan showed great humility. 01:13 He was vulnerable, unguarded, 01:15 and an immediate friend. 01:17 And so we invited Dan Carter 01:19 to be our guest on 01:21 It Is Written Canada today. 01:23 >> Yes, Dan is here to tell us 01:25 about how he turned his life 01:27 around from struggling with 01:29 alcoholism and homelessness 01:32 to becoming the mayor of 01:33 Oshawa, Ontario, a major city 01:37 in the Greater Toronto Area. 01:39 We are so thankful to have him 01:41 here visiting with us. 01:43 Welcome, Mayor Dan Carter to 01:45 It Is Written Canada. 01:47 >> Well, first of all, 01:48 thank you very much for the 01:49 opportunity to be with you 01:50 today and yeah, you're right, 01:51 I mean having a second chance 01:53 through recovery is one thing, 01:55 but the first chance really 01:56 came early in my life. 01:58 >> This is fascinating to me, 02:00 your story of how you went 02:02 from-- having a second chance, 02:05 from being on the streets and 02:07 homeless and struggling with 02:08 addictions to getting that 02:10 second chance at life, but 02:12 before we go there, I wanna 02:13 talk about that first chance, 02:15 the first chance 02:16 that you got at life. 02:17 >> I was the last of seven to 02:19 be born in my biological 02:20 family and in the early days 02:23 of my life, my mother passed 02:26 away and if you had children 02:28 under the age of two, fathers 02:30 didn't bring up children 02:31 and especially if you had 02:32 seven children and you just 02:34 didn't look after them and 02:36 myself and my brother, Tommy, 02:38 were put into care at the 02:39 Children's Aid Society. 02:41 And I always say that my life 02:42 has been tested and blessed 02:43 and I think it was blessed 02:45 because the reason I-- 02:46 Not only the many foster homes 02:47 that I went through, 02:48 but I ended up in the 02:49 Carter household. 02:50 And I think that that was a 02:52 blessing in disguise. 02:53 They were just the right 02:56 parents at the right time 02:57 and I think that even though 02:59 they had three of their own 03:00 children, they welcomed me 03:01 into their family. 03:02 I'd have to say that that was 03:05 my very first chance at life. 03:08 >> And, Mayor Dan Carter, 03:09 I understand that school 03:12 was not easy for you. 03:14 >> It was pretty difficult. 03:16 I always think about my school 03:18 years and I always-- 03:19 I like to tell the story 03:20 about, you know, going down to 03:22 see the principal or going out 03:23 to the smoking lounge to see 03:24 the principal and I was in 03:26 grade 4 at the time and I went 03:27 down to see him to be able to 03:29 say, "Listen, I think you and" 03:30 "I better talk about parking" 03:32 "'cause apparently I'm gonna" 03:33 "be here a long time." 03:34 And uh... 03:35 So yeah, it was a difficult 03:37 period of time. 03:38 And I had what is now known as, 03:41 something very well-known and, 03:42 I mean, really well-known 03:44 people around the world have 03:45 dyslexia, but in the 60's you 03:48 were either a student that was 03:50 fully engaged or you were a 03:52 student that wasn't engaged 03:53 and I think that that really 03:54 kind of set the tone for my 03:55 education as I moved forward 03:57 as it was a painful period of 03:59 time because of my learning 04:00 disability. 04:00 And so I failed grade 1 04:02 a couple times and grade 2 04:03 a couple times, 04:04 grade 3 a couple times... 04:05 So it got to a point that by 04:07 the time I was in grade 4, 04:08 I was like 6-foot-2 so you knew 04:10 that I was gonna be there a 04:11 long, long time, but... 04:13 It was a painful experience 04:14 but I'm glad that later in 04:15 life I finally came to terms 04:17 with my dyslexia, but also 04:19 understanding what education 04:20 really can do for one. 04:22 >> It must have been very hard 04:24 for your mom or for your 04:26 parents to see you struggling 04:28 like that, but specifically 04:29 your mother because as a 04:31 mother, we're nurturing and we 04:32 don't like to see 04:33 our children struggle. 04:35 So what role did your mother 04:37 play in helping you through 04:38 your difficulty in school? 04:40 >> Significant role. 04:41 And my mother loved books and 04:43 loved to read and she really 04:45 could see the joy in reading 04:46 and it really-- 04:47 And I think she really 04:48 suffered seeing me suffer so 04:51 much about reading that it 04:52 became so difficult that she 04:55 couldn't translate that love 04:56 for reading and learning into 04:58 me and I just got more and 05:00 more frustrated and angry 05:01 because I couldn't 05:02 do the work. 05:03 My mother's belief in me and 05:05 really believing that I had 05:06 the ability, that I had-- 05:09 my brain could learn. 05:11 I think the problem being is 05:13 not understanding, truly 05:15 understanding what dyslexia 05:16 was doing or being diagnosed, 05:17 I think it made it frustrating 05:19 for both of us, but she played 05:20 a significant role. 05:22 >> And you father, he wanted 05:23 to give you confidence... 05:24 >> Yeah, yeah. 05:25 >> And he knew he couldn't do 05:27 it that way so he got you to 05:29 do a paper route. 05:30 >> Yeah. 05:31 I wasn't very good-- 05:33 like, I never had skills or 05:34 abilities in regards to fixing 05:36 anything, I've never been. 05:37 I always say that I-- 05:39 you know, I've got a telephone 05:40 book at home and it's there 05:42 for a particular reason 05:43 because I can phone a repair 05:43 man because I can't 05:45 fix anything. 05:46 But my dad was really handy, 05:47 but my mom and dad both could 05:49 see that I was struggling 05:50 really early on in my life and 05:51 I was becoming-- 05:53 I don't know if you'll find 05:54 this surprising, but at one 05:55 time I used to be-- 05:57 like, I talked a lot and I've 05:58 changed a lot apparently. 06:00 But they could see that I was 06:02 starting to kind of pull back 06:04 and I was starting to isolate. 06:06 They could see that I was 06:07 losing my confidence and I 06:09 think my dad thought a paper 06:10 route to 14 houses, you know, 06:13 his natural ability to be able 06:15 to connect with people and I 06:16 would say it was the best job 06:17 I ever had. 06:18 I got hot chocolate and 06:19 cookies at every door and I 06:22 don't even get that as mayor 06:23 and uh... 06:24 >> And I just-- 06:25 I absolutely loved it and so 06:28 my parents always said, 06:29 "We know the 14 houses that" 06:30 "you deliver the paper to," 06:31 "but you don't go into" 06:32 "the gas station because we" 06:33 "don't know who owns that." 06:35 And unfortunately through that 06:39 experience one day I did go 06:40 into that gas station and I 06:41 never spoke about what 06:42 happened in that gas station 06:44 for thirty years. 06:45 And I was a young boy and, 06:47 unfortunately I was raped in 06:48 that place by the owner. 06:50 And that did a lot to me 06:54 at a young age, didn't really 06:55 understand what went went on, 06:57 but I was so ashamed that I 06:59 never shared that until I had 07:01 the opportunity to be in 07:02 rehab so... 07:04 It was difficult, 07:06 it was really difficult. 07:07 >> So you experienced one 07:10 trauma after another... 07:11 [Dan] Yeah. 07:12 >> And yet you just 07:13 kept on going. 07:15 Was there ever a time in your 07:17 life that you felt like, 07:18 "I just--" 07:19 "I can't do this anymore," 07:20 and you were ready to give up? 07:21 >> Absolutely. 07:23 I mean, I think that you get 07:25 to a point where-- 07:27 I always say that my life is 07:28 being tested and blessed. 07:29 So tested losing my parents 07:31 when I was young, 07:32 blessed because I was brought 07:33 into a really wonderful 07:34 family and... 07:36 Tested because I went to 07:37 school and I did poorly, 07:39 but blessed because I had a 07:41 parent that believed in me. 07:43 Tested because of the reason 07:46 that, you know, I was going 07:47 through depression young 07:49 and blessed that I had people 07:52 that loved me so much and 07:53 surrounded me. 07:55 You know, tested, when I was 07:57 raped, but also in the back 07:59 end many years later, 08:00 blessed that there was 08:02 forgiveness found. 08:03 You can't walk around with 08:06 all of this and continue to be 08:08 able to carry it because I 08:09 think what happens is 08:10 it'll destroy you. 08:11 But absolutely, 08:12 I think, you look at it after 08:14 a while, event after event 08:16 after event after event 08:17 after event... 08:18 Mike, you can relate to this 08:19 and Rene, I-- 08:20 It just-- it's-- 08:23 After a while just sit there 08:24 and you just say, you know... 08:25 [Mike] "When is it gonna stop?" 08:26 >> "When's it gonna stop" and 08:27 "Why is this happening to me?" 08:29 And I think that you really 08:31 buy in to the victimization, 08:34 being a victim of things. 08:35 And I think you have to come 08:37 to terms with that and in my 08:38 circumstance, unfortunately, 08:40 it got to a point that when my 08:42 brother, Michael, was killed 08:43 when I was 13 and he was a 08:45 police officer, I just-- 08:47 it didn't make sense to me. 08:48 And I-- you kinda sit there 08:49 and go, "OK," like, "I don't" 08:51 "understand what this means." 08:52 but you-- 08:53 >> That was the straw. 08:53 >> Yeah! 08:55 It really did and it's-- 08:57 You really-- you kinda wake up 08:58 the next day and think, 09:00 "Well," you know, "everything" 09:01 "will be fine, it's just a" 09:02 "bad dream," and what you find 09:03 out is that it's not. 09:04 And I reached out to, 09:06 of course, drugs and alcohol 09:07 at that time and... 09:08 >> Mmhmm. 09:09 How bad did that get for you, 09:11 the drugs and the alcohol, 09:13 and how long did that last? 09:14 >> So it lasted about 17 09:15 years, 13 to about 31 09:18 and I always say that I was 09:19 mentally, emotionally, 09:20 physically, financially, and 09:21 spiritually broken. 09:22 I was broken in every aspect. 09:25 I got to a point that by 09:27 you know, near the end of my 09:30 drinking career, I mean, I had 09:32 lost my friends, I lost my 09:33 family, I lost everything. 09:35 I mean, it was just-- 09:37 You destroy everything around 09:38 you, it's like, you know, 09:39 you're engulfed in 09:40 this kind of... 09:42 You're poisonous to everybody 09:44 and, you know, you treat 09:45 people badly and you lie and 09:47 you cheat and you steal and 09:48 you do all the things that-- 09:49 That's not who you are, but 09:51 it got really bad. 09:52 >> So how did you 09:54 decide to change? 09:56 Like, when was the turning 09:58 point in your life? 09:59 >> So it was June of 1991 and 10:02 my ss-- I woke up one day, I 10:04 was in a rooming house that I 10:06 was staying in temporarily and 10:09 I woke up that morning and I 10:11 shake really bad, 10:12 I'm hypoglycemic, but also the 10:14 drugs and alcohol had done a 10:16 lot of bad things to me 10:17 and I woke up that morning and 10:19 went-- there's a bathroom that 10:20 was on the main floor, 10:21 everybody had to use it 10:22 kind of thing. 10:24 And I looked in the mirror and 10:26 I really-- for the very first 10:27 time I really saw what I had 10:29 become and I think it was the 10:31 first time that I realized 10:32 that I was in a lot of trouble 10:34 and instinctively I knew that 10:36 day that I would die if 10:38 I didn't do something 10:39 immediately. 10:40 And so I had a couple dollars 10:42 in my pocket, I phoned my 10:44 sister from a pay phone and 10:45 just said, you know, 10:46 "Maureen, I'm in a lot of" 10:47 "trouble," and she said, 10:48 "Why don't you come to the" 10:49 "house and we can talk." 10:50 And sh-- you know, my sister 10:52 still-- in a way she had 10:54 distanced herself from me, 10:56 but she also believed in me. 10:57 She never gave up on me. 10:59 She kind of thought, "I know" 11:00 "there's something good" 11:02 "there, it's this poison that" 11:04 "it's kind of grabbed him." 11:06 And I went over to see my 11:07 sister and my sister kinda-- 11:10 She lived in a very large 11:12 house and she had a maid 11:14 and she opened up the door 11:15 and she kinda looked at me 11:16 and thought, "Geez," 11:17 "I know this guy," 11:18 "but I don't really know..." 11:18 >> Oh, wow. 11:19 >> I walked into the kitchen 11:20 and my sister was sitting 11:22 there reading the newspaper 11:23 and she dropped the newspaper. 11:24 She didn't say a word, she 11:25 walked right across the room, 11:26 slapped me across the side of 11:28 the head and she said, 11:29 "You have two choices today." 11:30 "You can either die" 11:31 "or you can sober up." 11:32 "But you're gonna make one of" 11:33 "those choices today." 11:35 And it was just-- 11:37 I broke down because it came 11:39 from such a place where you 11:40 knew she was so sincere. 11:45 She-- you knew instinctively 11:48 there was no other choice. 11:50 There wasn't a third choice. 11:51 That choice was gonna be 11:52 made that day. 11:54 And I think my sister's 11:56 kind of in-your-face, 11:59 "something's gonna change" 12:00 "today" kind of made me say, 12:03 "Something has to change." 12:05 >> It's either I do that 12:06 or I die. 12:07 >> Yeah. 12:08 I knew who I was at that point 12:10 wasn't who I really was. 12:11 >> Ahh, that's a big one... 12:12 >> Yeah. 12:13 >> To understand. 12:14 "This is not me." 12:15 [Dan] Yeah. 12:16 >> "I am not this person I'm" 12:17 "looking at in the mirror." 12:18 >> Yeah. 12:19 >> So you-- what did you-- 12:20 You went into recovery? 12:22 >> Yeah, my sister arranged 12:23 through a friend of hers that 12:24 I would go into recovery. 12:25 I had to go to the United 12:26 States to get recovered. 12:27 I was in the hospital for 12:28 about a year. 12:29 And so the program was in 12:31 Los Angeles, California and I 12:33 was fortunate enough to get 12:34 into that program, my sister 12:35 arranged for it and I was able 12:37 to get into this 12:38 year-long program. 12:39 And really what it was is 12:41 I spent about the first three 12:42 months in ICU 12:43 really kind of-- 12:44 because I couldn't eat solid 12:46 foods, you know, I was-- 12:47 just physically, I wasn't in 12:48 good shape. 12:50 But I spent that period of 12:52 time in ICU and really kind of 12:53 recovered in regards to 12:55 physical aspects. 12:57 Then came the emotional aspect 12:59 that I had to recover from. 13:01 And there was a lot of really 13:03 interesting moments at the 13:04 time and it was the very first 13:05 time that I talked about being 13:07 adopted and really trying to 13:08 understand what that meant and 13:09 why it impacted me 13:11 in the way it did. 13:12 Very first time I talked about 13:13 being raped as a little boy 13:15 and how I-- that affected me. 13:19 And it was the first time that 13:20 I talked about my reading 13:21 difficulties and I don't know 13:23 if I shared it with you, but I 13:25 still remember, I went to my 13:26 very first 12-step group and I 13:28 had my Big Book which is a 13:31 part of Alcoholics Anonymous 13:33 and you have to stand up and 13:34 say, "Hi, my name's" 13:35 "Dan Carter, I'm a cigarette," 13:36 "alcoholic, and drug addict." 13:37 And they go, "Hi, Dan," 13:38 "How are you?" 13:39 And 12-step groups, by the 13:40 way, are tremendous. 13:42 And I went to sit down and the 13:44 counsellor said, 13:45 "What're you doing?" 13:46 And I said, "Well, I was just" 13:47 "gonna sit down." 13:48 He said, "This is a group" 13:49 "that participates," 13:50 "Mr. Carter, and I see that" 13:52 "you have your Big Book here." 13:53 And he said, "You're lucky" 13:54 "enough 'cause you're gonna" 13:55 "do our first reading today." 13:57 And I was 31 years old and I 14:00 know that some of your viewers 14:02 may be able to relate to this, 14:03 and I know, Mike, you can 14:04 relate to this, 14:06 but I was absolutely ashamed 14:08 and I just broke out in a 14:10 sweat and I was red and I was 14:12 shaking and I had to sit there 14:14 and say, "I can't read." 14:17 And he said, "Mr. Carter," 14:18 he said, "do you want your" 14:20 "life to change today?" 14:21 And I said, "Yes, sir." 14:22 And he said, "I just need" 14:24 "you to try." 14:25 This is a moment you can 14:26 invest in someone's life and 14:27 it can change their life 14:28 forever and he knew 14:29 it instinctively. 14:30 And that changed me. 14:31 And he said, you know, 14:33 afterwards he came to me and 14:34 he said, "Who's the one" 14:36 "person you'd like to meet" 14:37 "in your life?" 14:38 And I said, "Oh, I'd like to" 14:40 "meet Martin Luther King." 14:41 He said, "Well, you know" 14:42 "he's dead." I said, 14:43 "You didn't qualify," 14:44 "so...you just asked me." 14:46 And he said, "Let me see what" 14:48 "I can do." 14:49 And, you know, a little 14:51 while-- about a-- 14:52 within the week, he came back 14:54 and he said, "I want you to" 14:55 "meet a friend of mine." 14:56 And I said, "OK." 14:57 And he had the autobiography 14:58 of Martin Luther King and he 14:59 said, "Martin Luther King," 15:00 "meet Dan Carter, Dan Carter," 15:01 "meet Martin Luther King." 15:03 It changed my perspective, 15:04 you know what I mean? 15:05 It changed that relationship 15:07 instead of shame and 15:09 embarrassment, it showed me 15:11 that I could connect with it. 15:13 >> So you learned a lot 15:15 in recovery. 15:16 How long did that last? 15:18 >> Well, I'm almost 30 years 15:19 sober and I'm continuing to 15:21 learn, but I mean, the year 15:23 in California helped me 15:24 tremendously. 15:25 When I came out of 15:26 rehabilitation I had to do a 15:27 lot of things. 15:29 I had to ask for forgiveness, 15:30 I had to make-- 15:32 I had to make amends, I... 15:36 I had to repair my 15:37 relationship with 15:38 my sister and my brother. 15:39 I had to repair my 15:40 relationship with 15:41 my mother and father, 15:44 They needed to see that 15:45 I really had changed. 15:46 It took about three years for 15:47 them to really see 15:49 did Danny actually change or 15:50 is this just another...? 15:51 You know. 15:52 And I think, you know, a lot 15:53 of parents go through that. 15:55 When they see loved ones that 15:56 have an addiction problem, 15:57 they see that that individual, 16:00 they really-- they're hoping 16:02 that this is the moment, 16:03 right? 16:04 But they don't want to be so 16:06 bought in that they get so 16:07 disappointed so it took about 16:09 three years and through that 16:10 period of time there was a lot 16:12 of things that were happening. 16:12 My dad was diagnosed with 16:14 Alzheimers, so that really 16:16 kind of-- the fact my parents 16:17 were elderly and-- 16:19 But I'm really grateful and 16:22 I'm blessed because of the 16:23 reason that I was given the 16:24 opportunity to be able to show 16:26 my parents that who they saw 16:28 as a 2-year-old they adopted 16:31 was the same boy that sat in 16:33 front of them when I was 31. 16:35 So I that that was-- 16:36 I was very, very lucky that 16:37 that way and... 16:38 >> So, Mayor Dan, tell us 16:40 about your Christian 16:41 experience during recovery. 16:44 >> So a big part of it is, 16:46 you've probably heard this 16:47 before, is people that go 16:48 into recovery, they-- 16:50 there's a-- there's a 16:52 difficulty with God. 16:54 They-- a lot of people 16:55 struggle with God. 16:56 And there's a couple things, 16:57 I think one is is because 16:58 people that have battled 17:01 addiction and mental health 17:02 issues, they blame somebody 17:06 and the only person that they 17:06 can really blame is their 17:08 creator and whoever that-- 17:09 For some people, they, 17:11 you know, they have different 17:12 faith beliefs. 17:14 In my circumstance, I was 17:16 brought up through my parents 17:17 that we were Presbyterians, 17:19 I went to church and, 17:21 you know, I didn't really 17:23 relate to it as a child 17:24 because, having a learning 17:25 disability and hearing the 17:27 Old Testament is, to me 17:28 anyway, is very difficult 17:30 to-- How does that make sense? 17:31 So it didn't make sense me and 17:33 it wasn't relatable and so it 17:34 was hard. 17:35 I always say my father-- 17:37 We'd go to church, 17:38 my father got some of his best 17:39 sleeping done at church, 17:40 I've gotta be honest ya. 17:42 It's-- And, uh... 17:45 But as a child I went to 17:46 church, but it wasn't 17:47 relatable. 17:49 But in recovery, part of it is 17:51 you have to give your life up 17:52 to a higher power and in the 17:55 circumstances, it is God. 17:56 You have to give your life up 17:58 to that and put it-- 17:59 Because the kind of control we 18:01 had in our lives didn't work. 18:02 So, you know. 18:04 But also, many of us that are 18:06 in recovery, we need to blame 18:07 somebody for this. 18:08 We're a victim. 18:09 All these bad things happened 18:10 to me, by the way, 18:11 all this, this, this, and this. 18:13 And I... 18:15 I truly have grown in my faith 18:18 tremendously, especially over 18:20 the last 16 or 17 years, I 18:21 think I've really seen that 18:23 it's a foundational piece 18:25 that I relate more and more. 18:27 I understand it more. 18:29 I had a conversation just 18:31 after my sister, Maureen-- 18:33 Unfortunately I lost my 18:34 sister, Maureen, 18:35 May 17th, 2000. 18:39 She made a decision to end her 18:41 life and that was devastating 18:42 for me and I was 9 years 18:44 into sobriety. 18:45 And I went to my pastor, 18:48 Pastor Doug Schneider, at the 18:50 time and I said like, 18:52 "I don't get this." 18:54 "I don't get this and I'm" 18:55 "struggling." And he said, 18:57 "Have you ever read the Bible" 18:58 "from front to back?" 18:59 And I said, "No, I haven't." 19:00 And he said, "I want you" 19:02 "to read The Message because," 19:03 he said, "that may be" 19:05 "connectable to you." 19:06 >> In your language and you 19:07 can find-- 19:08 >> Right, so I could 19:09 understand it. 19:10 So I started reading that and 19:13 I think that what happened was 19:16 I came to kind of a moment 19:18 where I had to say to myself, 19:21 "My creator is either" 19:22 "somebody that is dark and" 19:23 "vengeful and punishing" 19:26 "people or He's light and" 19:27 "love and compassion" 19:29 "and kindness." 19:30 >> That is the big question. 19:32 >> Yeah, but I, in my opinion, 19:34 right, Mike, I truly couldn't 19:36 believe that my God was of 19:38 darkness, I believed that He 19:40 was of light. 19:41 And so once I accepted that, 19:43 then I had to say to myself, 19:44 "Then why would God" 19:46 "put me through this?" 19:47 [Mike] Right. 19:48 >> And then I think what 19:49 happened was there was-- 19:51 I had to make a decision. 19:52 If He-- If I believe that He's 19:54 light and love and caring and 19:56 compassion, then I also then 19:57 have to say to myself then 19:58 "He put me through this" 20:00 "to equip me differently." 20:01 So once I came to terms that I 20:03 wasn't being punished, I was 20:05 being prepared, 20:06 I think that changed the 20:07 equation all together, right? 20:09 And so then I understand, 20:10 "Oh, so I have a learning" 20:12 "disability 'cause millions" 20:13 "of people have a learning" 20:14 "disability, my experience" 20:16 "may help others." 20:17 "Oh my goodness," 20:18 "children are being sexually" 20:20 "assaulted, millions of" 20:21 "children have--" 20:22 "Oh, now I get" 20:23 "why that's hap--" 20:24 You know, all of those 20:25 experiences in darkness helped 20:27 me understand that God wasn't 20:28 punishing me, 20:29 He was preparing me. 20:30 And when I understood that, 20:32 then things started to connect 20:34 and I think that that's where 20:36 anger, bitterness, you know, 20:39 darkness kind of was 20:40 pushed away and I said, 20:41 "OK, now I understand." 20:42 That helped me tremendously. 20:44 >> Did you ever imagine 20:46 that this is the position that 20:48 you were gonna 20:49 end up with? 20:50 [Dan] No, I mean I'll be 20:51 celebrating 30 years of 20:52 sobriety next year, next June 20:54 and I never imagined where I 20:57 would be today. 20:58 And I remember somebody 21:00 saying in recovery, 21:01 "You know, you're gonna have" 21:02 "a job and you're gonna have" 21:03 "a credit card and you'll" 21:03 "have a license..." 21:04 And I went, "Yeah, sure." 21:05 >> Yeah, sure! 21:06 >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. 21:07 I don't have seven cents so, 21:08 yeah, you're-- you know. 21:09 And so I never imagined it and 21:13 it's funny 'cause when I got 21:15 elected new reels all said, 21:16 "Homeless Man Becomes Mayor." 21:18 And I said, "Wait a second," 21:19 "here," you know, 21:20 "I wasn't homeless and then" 21:21 "somebody said," you know, 21:22 "somebody came by and said, 21:24 'What are you doing?' Right? 21:24 'I don't know,' 21:25 'let's run for mayor.' 21:28 But I was lucky enough that I 21:29 had the opportunity to run 21:30 for-- I was the 21:32 Regional and City Counsellor 21:34 that I got elected in 2014 and 21:36 then in 2018 the mayor at the 21:38 time came to me and said, 21:39 "Dan, I need you to" 21:40 "run for mayor." 21:41 And I said, "I don't know if" 21:42 "I'm ready." 21:43 He said, "No, no, you're the" 21:44 "right guy for the" 21:44 "right time." 21:46 And with the support of my 21:47 family, I was lucky enough to 21:48 be able to be elected, 21:49 I was able to gather 70% of 21:51 the vote and so I was really 21:53 pleased about that. 21:54 And a lot of people, you know, 21:55 said, "Wow, that's really" 21:56 impressive!" I said, 21:57 "What you don't understand is" 21:58 "nobody else ran against me" 21:59 "so it's not that impressive." 22:01 But, there were a lot of other 22:02 people, but I was just really 22:03 lucky that the community gave 22:05 me an opportunity, 22:06 as broken as I was, 22:07 they gave me a chance. 22:09 And so, but it also gave me a 22:10 chance to speak to the media 22:12 all across the country about 22:13 not only our great city, but 22:14 about the struggles that 22:15 cities are facing today 22:17 and about some of the 22:18 conversations that we needed 22:19 to have. 22:20 And as-- I'm a broken individual 22:23 but I continue to 22:24 work on my brokenness and that 22:26 some day-- I really hope that 22:29 some day when I get home 22:32 that God will say to me, 22:34 "You know, Danny, I--" 22:35 "there was a couple times I" 22:36 "thought you were gonna come" 22:37 "home early," 22:38 "but you fought through" 22:39 "and I knew that you" 22:40 "would do the right thing." 22:41 And I think that I continue to 22:43 walk into my office every day, 22:45 and you've been to my office, 22:47 and I walk in every day and I 22:48 see that name plate, I go, 22:49 "Wow! Can you believe it?" 22:51 And I can't believe it. 22:52 So I'm a lucky guy. 22:54 [Mike] So, in closing, I just 22:56 want you to take a few minutes 22:57 to talk to someone who may be 22:59 feeling a bit discouraged, 23:01 maybe share a Bible verse. 23:04 So someone who's looking at 23:05 their life and saying, 23:06 "Hey, I'm struggling." 23:08 What would you say to them? 23:10 >> My biggest things is is 23:11 that you truly need to know 23:14 this, is that God loves you, 23:17 unconditionally, as broken as 23:18 you may be. 23:20 But the reality being is is that 23:21 all of us are being equipped 23:22 by God to be able to serve for 23:24 God and for individuals that 23:27 are struggling just like us, 23:28 if you're dealing with 23:29 addiction, mental health, 23:31 you're dealing with brokenness, 23:32 a broken marriage, you lost 23:34 your job, you're struggling 23:35 right now, 23:36 understand that God is 23:37 preparing you and I think 23:39 that we all have to kind 23:40 of understand that, 23:41 I think that James 1 talks 23:43 about, really about this kind 23:45 of, you're gonna be tested and 23:47 God's gonna test you and He's 23:48 really gonna press you 23:49 to the mat. 23:51 But the reality being is is I 23:52 think that what he is saying 23:54 is is that I need you to 23:56 experience something so that 23:58 you can understand where I 23:59 need you to serve. 24:01 You know, I shared this with 24:03 you when walked together at 24:05 City Hall, I said, you know, 24:07 "There's something significant" 24:08 "when I think about Jesus" 24:09 "washing someone's feet." 24:10 And think about that humility 24:12 that comes in and even the 24:14 King of Kings, as low as low, 24:17 to be able to wash one's feet 24:19 really talks about, 24:21 that's where God needs us, 24:22 He needs us to serve. 24:23 That's where our faith and our 24:25 lives and our relationship 24:27 come together is when we're in 24:29 service, that's where God 24:30 can access. 24:32 And I think that's for all of 24:33 us that are going through a 24:34 really unusual time right now, 24:36 just know that God loves you, 24:37 that He's preparing you and 24:39 that, truly, I believe this in 24:41 my heart of hearts, because I 24:42 am living proof, that it's not 24:44 gonna be easy, you're gonna 24:45 continue to be tested, you're 24:47 gonna continue to lose people 24:49 and have hardships, but it's 24:51 not because God is punishing 24:52 you, it's because God is 24:53 preparing you. 24:54 I just truly believe that. 24:55 So that's what I believe. 24:57 >> Thank you so much. 24:58 Can I ask you to pray for us-- 24:59 >> Absolutely! 25:00 >> As we close. 25:02 >> Absolutely, and I just, 25:03 you know, I want to take this 25:04 opportunity to to say thank 25:05 you very much for allowing me 25:06 to spend some time with you 25:08 and I only wish you the very 25:10 best in success, not only with 25:11 the show, but with your life 25:12 and your teaching. 25:14 So thank you very much. 25:15 I ask all of us to come 25:17 together today and just give 25:19 thanks today for this 25:20 opportunity to be able to have 25:22 these kinds of conversations. 25:23 We hope that today's 25:24 conversation, God, is going to 25:27 reach out to those that are 25:28 maybe suffering today. 25:29 I hope that there are 25:30 individuals sitting somewhere 25:32 by themselves and truly 25:33 understand that 25:34 God loves them. 25:35 We ask you, Heavenly Father, 25:36 to continue to equip us with 25:37 wisdom and knowledge and 25:39 courage, continue to guide us 25:41 through this path of life and 25:43 truly understand that we have 25:45 purpose and that we will be 25:47 able to walk together as a 25:50 group and as a community. 25:51 We ask You for healing of 25:52 those that are dealing with 25:53 mental health or addiction. 25:55 We ask You, Heavenly Father, 25:56 for those that are unsheltered 25:57 across this great country of 25:58 Canada, let us truly reach out 26:01 to them and let them know that 26:02 they are not alone. 26:04 We ask You, Heavenly Father, 26:05 never forget about the 26:06 struggles that all of us have. 26:07 We ask You, Heavenly Father, 26:09 to continue to place Your hand 26:11 upon our brokenness and let us 26:13 know that we are loved 26:14 and cared for. 26:15 Heavenly Father, we ask You 26:17 in Your name, to be able to 26:18 continue to lift up our 26:20 cities, our country, 26:21 our province, 26:21 lift up our leadership, 26:23 lift up Mike and René, 26:24 let them know that the work 26:26 that they are doing today will 26:27 touch so many lives across 26:29 this great nation. 26:30 We pray in Your name, amen. 26:32 >> Amen, amen. 26:33 >> Thank you. 26:34 >> When I was listening to 26:35 Dan's story, I was reminded of 26:37 John chapter 5 which speaks 26:39 about a pool where there are 26:41 many people lying around all 26:42 day, waiting for a miracle, 26:44 they were blind and lame and 26:46 paralyzed, and Jesus came to a 26:47 man who was in the most 26:49 helpless condition. 26:51 He was an incurable invalid 26:53 for 38 years 26:55 and when Jesus saw him lying 26:56 there, He asked him, 26:58 "Do you want to get well?" 27:01 >> That's an important 27:02 question because many people 27:04 are looking for healing 27:06 and for happiness. 27:08 But when it is offered to 27:10 them, they have to choose to 27:12 believe that it is possible. 27:14 They have to have hope. 27:17 As we learned from listening 27:19 to Dan's story, it is the same 27:21 with breaking free 27:23 from addictions. 27:25 If you, right now, are 27:27 suffering from any kind of 27:29 addiction, Jesus is 27:31 asking you today, 27:34 "Do you want to get well?" 27:37 >> As Dan Carter shared with 27:39 us today, there are people who 27:41 are willing to help you to 27:42 recover to set you free. 27:45 We have a little booklet, 27:47 completely free of charge 27:48 for you today, it's called 27:50 Breaking Addictions 27:51 And this little booklet also 27:52 includes resources that can 27:54 help you to break free 27:55 from addictions. 27:57 So if you have a smart phone, 27:58 get it ready or a pen and 27:59 paper, to take down the 28:01 details that you will need to 28:02 get this free offer, 28:03 Breaking Addictions. 28:05 Here is the information 28:06 you need. 28:07 ♪♪ 28:13 We want you to experience the 28:14 truth that is found in the 28:16 words of Jesus when He said, 28:17 "It is written," 28:19 "man does not live by bread" 28:21 "alone, but by every word" 28:22 "that proceeds out of the" 28:24 "mouth of God." 28:26 ♪♪ |
Revised 2020-12-08