Introduction: I’ve been a Soldier long enough to have lived through multiple iterations of values the Army lauded. When I was in Basic and AIT at Ft. Knox, we had to memorize such things as the “Three General Orders,” which were:

• I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved.
• I will obey my special orders and perform all my duties in a military manner.
• I will report violations of my special orders, emergencies, and anything not covered in my instructions to the commander of the relief.

Some lessons just stick with you, regardless of the passage of time.

I also remember vividly knocking out pullups before and after chow in those fun days when we’d shout, “Duty, Honor, Country … Hooah!” before the drill sergeants PTd us some more … just for grins and giggles.

But I look out today and sometimes wonder about my nation’s Army of the future. When I joined, I didn’t join for what the Army could do for me, as naïve as that may sound. I really did join because I wanted to be part of something noble, be part of a team, serve my country, travel the world (even the less-than-ideal locations), and be part of America’s history … but in a good and helpful way, not in a way to tear it down. To some that may sound sentimental, but that was me. I loved saying the pledge. I love standing for my country’s anthem. If not in uniform, I still put my hand over my heart. When in uniform, I of course, turn towards the nearest display of my country’s colors and render a salute.

The acronyms are legion in the Army. We have the Army VALUES: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.

As a chaplain, one of my favorites that’s ingrained in my heart of hearts is one we have in the Chaplain Corps: Nurture the living; Care for the wounded; Honor the fallen.

But as Dylan penned decades ago, the times, they are a-changing. The reasons young people join America’s Army are often quite different now. And ideas of selfless service have often fallen on hard times. Now, unless college, grad school, bonuses, and perks attend enlistment promises, our recruiters often find themselves nervous about making quotas.

Encouragement: But here’s the encouragement I try to give myself and others: Values are inescapable; it’s just a matter of which set of values a culture (and its individual members) follow. But there’s always a God of the system, a set of values recognized as the ones to follow.

I know we are a deeply troubled, divided, and politicized nation. Anyone who is honest recognizes that. But my prayer for my country (and your country) is that we recognize good values from bad ones, and have the humility to humble ourselves under the one true God who is truth Himself so that He might form America to what she can be and what her Founders intended.