A note to my Commander-in-Chief

Sir,

Good job.

Most Respectfully,

Daniel Miller
First Lieutenant, Engineers
United States Army
Tucsonan


I have been meaning to post about the following topic for some time now, and am finally getting around to it, spurred on by the events that happened in my home - my neighborhood - last week.  You may have been able to surmise that I'm not the religious type.  That doesn't stop me, however, from seeing the wisdom and brilliance of the following prayer:

O God, our Father, Thou Searcher of human hearts, help us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and truth. May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural.
    Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretence ever to diminish. Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy. Guard us against flippancy and irreverence in the sacred things of life. Grant us new ties of friendship and new opportunities of service. Kindle our hearts in fellowship with those of a cheerful countenance, and soften our hearts with sympathy for those who sorrow and suffer. Help us to maintain the honor of the Corps untarnished and unsullied and to show forth in our lives the ideals of West Point in doing our duty to Thee and to our Country. All of which we ask in the name of the Great Friend and Master of all. - Amen


A couple of you may recognize this as the Cadet Prayer from West Point.  Like the pledge of allegiance as a child, I didn't fully understand or soak in the words as I recited it regularly as a plebe.    There's not really much I can add or take away from the Cadet Prayer.  Just know that I consider it to be about the best possible use of 231 words I have ever read.  Read it over and over again.  Try reading it once per day, and each day, picking out a sentence on which to focus and absorb.

One last thing:

A friend of mine listed said the following as their Facebook status:

"Bear Down America"

Amen. (For context, google "John Button Salmon").