Eyes Opened To See
by Michael Doyle

There's an art to living gratitude.
It is transformative of our attitude.
The habits you adopt as your own,
As if nothing can bother the life you own.

So much around us easily shatters.
It comes down to what really matters.
In a world of anger that is filled with fear,
We must remember gratitude is the only true power here.

However much the world knows darkness;
And however much life treats us with harshness,
We can always rebuild what we truly know,
And in this rebuilding, we flourish and grow.

Shawneetown picked up from the 1937 flood,
And it left its past in the decrepit mud,
Choosing to make the most of its opportunity
Shawneetown rebuilt and outgrew its history.

Everything around us constantly rearranges.
Nothing stays the same; everything changes.
Slivers of beauty and hope are all around.
If you look for it, you'll find that it openly abounds.

For this, we live best by taking on gratitude,
And deciding that life becomes ours in our attitude.
Every situation has something that is bountiful.
In recognizing this, we reach for what is wonderful.

It is by taking this on that we see without concealing
The Lord's joy that waits and is openly revealing.
It is waiting to enrich us for all our seeing.
This is the joyous complexity of being a human being.

Everyday's gift is the sun we see shine
And knowing it's shared and not yours or mine.
Tomorrow is here for us by providence and not design.
That is the distinction brought to its fine line.

Seeing this provides us all with the living key.
We are no longer imprisoned but have been set free.
This and finding our way in our Father's kingdom
Are the qualities that combine to give us our freedom.

(c) November 2, 2026   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved