Now my daughter has gone into the Army, and by next spring will be a 2nd Lt. One prays that she will stay out of harm's way and have a glorious career, but to her, I think it means more than that.
General MacArthur said that the moral code of "duty, honor, country" animated him. Here's a quote: "'Duty,' 'Honor,' 'Country' — those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you want to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.
They make you strong enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid.
They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for action; not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm, but to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future, yet never neglect the past; to be serious, yet never take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness; the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.
Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government. Whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as firm and complete as they should be.
These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country."
So whether we are on the front lines, or serving at home by helping our neighbor, praying for loved ones, and feeding the hungry heart, we are all animated by these words. Our duty is to be the best we can be. To be loving, to watch, to do unto others as we would have them be unto us, and "to be merciful, just, and pure." Let that be the flag we carry.
No one can post a comment. At first I was told it was because of a compatability view. The computer's, not mine. I sat down and gave it a lecture on anti-bullying, but ineffectively. It whined and spouted arguments about an outdated browser. Told the computer to take some lessons from the resident cockapoo in how to find things. Third, I was told that I must accept third party cookies, even though I am on a diet. Oh very well. Let's see if this helps.
ReplyDelete