“Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.” – Michel de Montaigne
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Thought For the Day: Not Being Able To Govern Events, I Govern Myself
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Tagged Capability, Events, Govern, Michel de Montagne, Self, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: Always Vote For Principle, Though You May Vote Alone, and You May Cherish the Sweetest Reflection That Your Vote Is Never Lost
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” – John Quincy Adams
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Tagged Alone, Cherish, First Principles, John Quincy Adam, Lost, Principle, Reflecttion, Vote
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Bonhoeffer, Part 7
Bonhoeffer, Part 7
by Michael Doyle
Time stands still with its lit fuse,
We wonder why life makes us choose.
We do our best to stop the evil in men,
To give or take life feels a lesser sin.
What would one give to save one's nation?
It seems a trivial cost to lose one's reputation.
A cordial drink shared in a dimly lit room,
The news is shared, though it feels like doom.
When the last chance depends on a quiet prayer,
And all that's left is for the God that's there.
To lend humanity a miracle desperately needed,
Will our vain whispers go to the grave unheeded?
What is left when it appears we see God fail?
Are the few saints left doomed to go to Hell?
The pages of the Bible may be marred with mud,
But our salvation depends only on Christ's blood.
At night, we pray for the respite of God's rescue,
His salvation is needed by all, Christian and Jew.
When the unholy comes in fury to destroy us all,
All that is left is to fall on our knees and call.
We call on Jesus even unto the moment of our death,
As with our final exhale, we humbly give our last breath.
We come to the point where we accept our appointed purpose,
With true humility, we live for the ends of God's service.
There is no avoiding whatever God calls on us to do.
And so we accept whatever cost to remain forever true.
This then is the meaning of our life's long journey,
That we should live as God pleases to meet our destiny.
A holy pastor tends his flock as if it were his family.
Breaking the bread that is the body of Christ's memory,
As it is his charge to do, as he shares communion,
Knowing the wine drunk brings us into holy reunion.
Good men and women share the spirit of the holy ghost,
Sharing together in the last moments of the blessed host.
Step by step, Bonhoeffer walked toward the gallows,
Fearful though he was, he lived bolder than the shadows.
From his life, let us receive the gift born,
That blessed are those who live, die, and mourn.
Blessed are they who have lived pure in their heart,
For they have lived the will of God even as they depart.
Hate, racism, and genocide remain this world's reality.
We Christians owe it to God to live ever more faithfully.
If it is to be done, it is up to all of us bound together,
We must, through the love of God, make this world better.
Silence, in the face of evil, is evil itself unspoken.
We must stand for God's love in every way unbroken.
In every step taken, we spread God's words of love,
And in so doing, serve our lives as if led from above.
(c) February 27, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Better, Bible, Choose, Christ's Blood, Christianity, Communio, Cordial Driink, Destiny, Die, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Doom, Evil, Face of Evil, Fail, Faith, Faithfully, Fuse, Gallow, Genocide, God, God's Love, Hate, Hello, Holy, Humanity, Jesus, Journey, Last Chance, Life, Live, Love of God, M, Mankind, Memory, Miracle, Mourn, Nation, News, Poetry and Poems, Prayer, Purity, Purpose, Racism, Reality, Reputaton, Rescuue, Room, Salvatiion, Service, Shadow, Silence, Sin, The Gift, Time, Together, Unbroken, Vain Whispers, Will of God, Words of Love
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First Principles: A People Who Mean To Be Free Must Be Prepared To Meet Danger In Person, and Not Rely Upon the Fallacious Protection of Armies
“A people who mean to be free must be prepared to meet danger in person, and not rely upon the fallacious protection of armies” – Edmund Randolph
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Tagged A People, Army, Danger, Edmund Randolph, Fallacious, First Principles, Free, Indiviual, Preparation, Protection
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Thought For the Day: Not By Force of Arms Are Civilizations Held Together, But By Subtle Threads of Moral and Intellectual Principle
“Not by force of arms are civilizations held together, but by subtle threads of moral and intellectual principle.” – Russell Kirk
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Tagged Civilization, Force of Arms, Held Together, Intellectual, Moral, Principle, Russell Kirk, Thought For the Day, Thread
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Bonhoeffer, Part 6
Bonhoeffer, Part 6
by Michael Doyle
Sometimes the pieces come together,
And the time to act is now to make it better.
In the face of atrocity and naked despair,
It takes action, not prayer, if you truly care.
Christ bids believers to come and follow,
To die to self and be bolder than His shadow.
Stepping out in faith, even if one must die,
Is the depth and shallowness of the needed reply.
History repeats itself as humanity keeps learning.
In World War II, almost all of Europe was burning.
33,000 innocent Jews were shot dead in two days.
Still, humanity has not learned to act in better ways.
The Devil proves himself willing to go the distance,
But how far will we go in measuring our resistance?
War claims lives that go to Hell, counted as waste.
Yet too many leaders rush into war with undue haste.
It's more than an expression of empty anxiety,
To look, with an honest face, on this world's complexity.
And then riddle yourself if you'd count it a loss,
To follow Jesus Christ all the way to Calvary's cross.
There comes a time when one can no longer run away.
Running toward the finish line that is needed today,
Is sometimes the only answer one can rightfully choose.
The Lord calls, and a conscientious soul cannot refuse.
Truth shouted from the pulpit is easier to ignore
Then whispers from the street that quietly implore
That the right things be said and attempted to be done
All for the Father, the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Son
(c) February 26, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Acttion, Atrocity, Believerrs, Better, Burn, Care, Christ, Die To Self, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Euroope, Faith, Follow, History, Humanty, Jews, Learng, Naked Despar, Pieces, Poetry and Poems, Prayer, Shadow, The Devil, Tim to Act, Together, World War II
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First Principles: The Powers of Congress Are Totally Inadequate To Preserve the Balance Between the Respective States, and Oblige Them To Do Those Things Which Are Essential
“The powers of Congress are totally inadequate to preserve the balance between the respective States, and oblige them to do those things which are essential for their own welfare or for the general good.” – Henry Knox
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Tagged Balance, Congress, Essential, First Principles, General Good, Henry Knox, Obligation, Powers, States, Welfare
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Thought For the Day: The Greatest Happiness of Life Is the Conviction That We Are Loved; Loved For Ourselves, Or Rather Loved In Spite of Ourselves
“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” – Victor Hugo
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Tagged Conviction, Happiness, Life, Love, Ourself, Thought For the Day, Victor Hugo
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Bonhoeffer, Part 5
Bonhoeffer, Part 5
by Michael Doyle
There are times when there is nowhere to go,
Tyranny transforms freedom into a tear's flow.
Sometimes in some places, the price for liberty
Is to join the ranks of those remembered by history.
At those times, there is but to pray and wait,
Action will have its time later, sure as fate.
There is nothing left to do but bide one's time,
The waste of needless death is not sublime.
There does come a time that calls for action,
Even a Christian feels a need for satisfaction.
Having turned more cheek than has been told,
There comes a time to make one's own road.
The enemy is keen to keep up its obstruction,
But a true Christian must stand against destruction.
No one is bigger than God; let this be known.
And in everything done, let's act to ensure it's shown.
What then is the price that the holy are willing to pay
That no evil be done and only good travels this way.
Is the cost of sanctification too heavy a burden,
And is the fear of what comes after death what's hurting?
For those who find it difficult to do what is right,
Let there be compensation that will make one's duty light.
What is the price of protecting the spiritually innocent?
And if we don't, aren't we admitting to being deficient?
There comes a point when a conscience can't be bought.
When that red line is reached, the battle must be fought.
The defense of why behind the methods of resistance,
Must, until the last man, be spoken with persistence.
May God guide trembling hands for what must be done.
The sacrifices to be made are for the Father and the Son.
Life teaches that faith without action is no faith at all.
Each believer must obey when the Father calls.
(c) February 25, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Action, Battle, Believer, Bible, Burden, Christianity, Consicence, Defense, Destrction, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Done, Faith, Fate, Father and Son, Germany, God, Hitory, Jesus, Liberty, Needles eath, Obstruction, Own Road, Persistance, Poetry and Poems, Pray, Price, Red Line, Reisstance, Resstance, Sacrificee, Sanctification, Tears, Time, Trembling Hands, Turned Cheeks, Tyanny, Wait
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Thought For the Day: Our Prime Purpose In This Life Is To Help Others. And If You Can’t Help Them, At Least Don’t Hurt Them
“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” – Dalai Lama
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Tagged Dalai Lama, Help Others, Hurt, Life, Prime Purpose, Thought For the Day
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ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 