I was watching the Sage Steele podcast1 recently where she interviewed two congressman. One of the congressman graduated from West Point and that is where Ms. Steele’s father went to school. Towards the end of the interview she said she could recite the West Point Cadet Prayer2. It was the first time I had heard about the prayer and was curious what she was going to recite.
She chose one section and it gave me pause when I heard it. I decided to look it up and write a post about it. Here is the one part she recited:
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.
The harder right is not an easy choice to make. I sometimes think life would be so much easier, if I didn’t have to choose doing the hard things. I want everything to fall into place nice and easy with a neat little bow and maybe some gourmet chocolate to go along with it. (I will always hold to the idea that chocolate can bring a little bit of joy into every situation!) Choosing the hard right thing rather than the easier wrong thing will enevitably make me a stronger and more confident person. I won’t shy away from even harder right choices that are surely to come in the future.
I know that when it comes to making the harder right choices, I will always fight the wave of anxiety that comes with having to stand firm on a decision that some people will not like or understand. What others may not realize is that the decision was not an easy one to make. My insides are all knotted up and twisted from overthinking about whether or not I should have done the hard right thing or just taken the easy way out. I think that is one thing that gets lost for those on the outside of choosing the hard right thing... it comes with a cost. Many times the cost for me is overthinking the choice and whether it was the right one. Other times the cost of choosing the hard right thing is a bit more painful. It can, at times, mean losing something.
There are times when the easier wrong looks so much more appealing and it is tempting to skirt or side-step an issue even though it is more beneficial to do the hard right thing. Again, I’d like for so many of my decisions to be easy and not hard. Unfortunately, that is not how life works. In the end, choosing the hard right will allow for truth to prevail. A victory of sorts, proving I can be confident that doing the hard right thing will be fruitful for my life.
If I remember correctly, I am almost positive my pastor spoke about this a little bit as well in yesterday’s sermon.3
What do you think of this portion of the Cadet’s Prayer? Do you find it easy to do the hard right thing? Or are you more like me who struggles at times to do the hard right thing because the easier wrong thing is well, easier?
Leave a comment below! I’d love to hear your thoughts!
https://www.youtube.com/@TheSageSteeleShow
https://www.west-point.org/academy/malo-wa/inspirations/cadetprayer.html
https://www.youtube.com/@centralchurchnc