First Principles: No People Can Be Bound To Acknowledge and Adore the Invisible Hand Which Conducts the Affairs of Men More Than the People of the United States

“(I)t would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.” – George Washington, First Inaugural Address (April 30, 1789)

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Thought For the Day: One of the Secrets of Life Is That All That Is Really Worth the Doing Is What We Do For Others

“One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others.” – Lewis Carroll

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Conversation

Conversation
by Michael Doyle

If you understand what it is that I mean,
We're watching two shows on the same screen.
There are few safe discussions in this nation.
We have lost our part in decent conversation.

Stupid is as stupid does, and becoming plain.
That our ancestors would think us a bit insane.
A conversation requires listening to what's said,
Whatever the cause or whoever may be dead.

We prejudge to the point that it isn't allowed to be shown,
That there might be a thing or two that remains unknown.
I don't know what has happened to weighing evidence,
But I, for one, believe this still has the most relevance.

Instead of pointing fingers of twisted plastic blame,
It might be better to take a moment to casually reframe.
Life isn't supposed to be about blasting the ego.
But it is sometimes about thoughtfully letting go.

Things said can be stacked to find their way to the heart
If we only look at each other with love from the start.
Everyone thinks strength is found in being demanding.
I honestly feel it's more about finding understanding.

It's hard to hold a legitimate conversation, always talking.
If you feel that you must fight, maybe first try walking.
And while you're walking, move past the pain and fear,
You might be surprised if you're really willing to hear.

Would it be so funny if we really gave peace a chance?
Maybe there's something to this non-circular dance.
It's simply done by using two ears in proportion to one mouth.
If I'm correct, that halves the odds of things going south.

On the edge of sanity, life isn't about keeping score.
It's about increasing our love and life forevermore.
The weight of the world is measured by learning to forgive.
Less pain, more dancing in the rain, this is how to live.

It isn't in the me and mine that brings us to our.
It's in sharing our dreams that we will reach far.
The power of deep conversation rests on sympathy,
Listening more is the tool that builds our empathy.

I will seek to teach my daughters until my last breath.
And I will teach them to die well with my death.
There will be a smile on this old man's aged face
If I have taught them love and how to live in grace.

(c) January 13, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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First Principles: If Ever A Time Should Come, When Vain and Aspiring Men Shall Possess the Highest Seats In Government, Our Country Will Stand In Need of Its Experienced Patriots To Prevent Its Ruin

“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” – Samuel Adams

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Thought For the Day: Worship Is Not A Repetitious Exercise of Rituals and Formulas. These Create A Veil That Actually Prevents Us From Enjoying the Presence of the Lord

“Worship is not a repetitious exercise of rituals and formulas. These create a veil that actually prevents us from enjoying the presence of the Lord. Worship is the heart poured out in gratitude and awe, expressing our appreciation of who He is and what He has done for us by His grace through Jesus Christ.” – Dave Hunt

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For the Love of Myth

For the Love of Myth
by Michael Doyle

Walking out past our prints in the Indiana snow,
My youngest confesses that it's hard to let it go.
Greek myths have an existential edge, so inevitable
Creative minds find themselves immensely incapable

Of letting go, the stories touch her young soul
As they come down to the interplay of control.
Her playful glare snipes at me when I say it's mythology.
She prefers to see it as a vibrant cosmology.

She finds herself conflicted with riveted attention
Struggling with fate and control's twisted tension.
As the gods play games with human vulnerability,
Her belief in free will clashes with that ability.

Too many frozen words are not a good sign.
Her brow wrinkles as I dismiss the divine.
I tell her the gods were always up to inequity,
The reply is that's how it was in antiquity.

It's fascinating to watch her mind openly engage
With thoughts that alternate between feeling rage
And the way these ancient tales eloquently unravel
Yet, they remain through the centuries - well-traveled.

Self-indulgent caprice makes for such a tangled mess.
That's my perception, I tell her as I readily confess.
The stories of heroes played for fools in adventure
Is as close as my heart and soul could ever indenture

To work passionately on tales that lacked any real truth,
I had discovered this early on while a wild-eyed youth.
Certain that my will would have pained the gods more,
She laughs, and I know that another day we have more to explore.

(c) January 12, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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Thought For the Day: The Champions of Socialism Call Themselves Progressives, But They Recommend… Resistance To Every Kind of Improvement

“The champions of socialism call themselves progressives, but they recommend a system which is characterized by rigid observance of routine and by a resistance to every kind of improvement. They call themselves liberals, but they are intent upon abolishing liberty. They call themselves democrats, but they yearn for dictatorship. They call themselves revolutionaries, but they want to make the government omnipotent. They promise the blessings of the Garden of Eden, but they plan to transform the world into a gigantic post office. Every man but one a subordinate clerk in a bureau. What an alluring utopia! What a noble cause to fight!” – Ludwig Von Mises

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First Principles: We Cannot Be Happy, Without Being Free…We Cannot Be Free, Without Being Secure In Our Property

“Let these truths be indelibly impressed on our minds — that we cannot be happy, without being FREE — that we cannot be free, without being secure in our property— that we cannot be secure in our property, if, without our consent, others may, as by right, take it away — that taxes imposed on us by parliament, do thus take it away.” – John Dickinson

Let this sink in with respect to the proposals by the Democratic Socialists that they will wly nily take the private property of others to elevate those who are poorer. You don’t make our nation richer by dragging down the rich. Nor by taking away freedom from the rest of us.

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Taken From the Beginning

Taken From the Beginning
by Michael Doyle

When you understand the story,
You know more about the glory.
Starting with the power of the Trinity,
We need to fully explore this mystery.

Still, as we go against sinning,
It's best to begin at the beginning.
From formlessness, God brought His creation.
Light from darkness - there is separation.

Day from night, water from land,
So that each kind is as we understand.
All of His creation, as it is understood
Is everything that is holy and good.

It's amazing, all of which we find.
Every creature and plant is separated by kind.
Until God, at last, created humanity
In His image is out of love, not vanity.

Everything with life's breath
Was given to live until their death.
Adam and Eve were to live in perfection
With God Himself, before disconnection.

It's this absence and lost connection
That points us to the need for our redemption.
There is an order seen in His good design.
It's God's glory and our understanding to refine.

In all creation, we see God's artistry.
It's there to experience; all of HIs creativity.
In all of this, we've yet to see as it reveals
That in created humanity, also granted free will.

In God's abundance, He brought marriage together.
The wedding of Adam and Eve made the world better.
Despite the struggles, it is for what we are given
And shapes the good morality by which we are driven.

From a meaningless void, God brought His creation.
It is this that we come to celebrate in our inspiration.
Sin is often what we can't have but feel that we must,
And in taking this autonomy, we broke God's trust.

The definition of good and evil is the moral authority.
It is represented by the expression of the forbidden tree.
Man and woman were formed in God's image and dignity.
Imago Dei then our duty frames the meaning of humanity.

Falling for the apple's temptation was a matter of being weak.
Our shame showed up before God elected to speak.
Accepting our fall away from what had been our integrity,
Still, God sought Adam and Eve despite His sovereignty.

It's our self-location that points to the vast road
That lays out the rest of the Bible as we are told.
Instantly, from shame, we sought to shift blame.
But there was ownership and responsibility in this game.

From God's beautiful creation arose the great mystery
That came with the fall from grace and into our misery.
And thus began the world we know and God's ministry.
The past, as they say, is a matter of history.

Made in the image of God, we know our identity.
It's a choice that will bring us through eternity.
Stepping into the fall is best faced with humility.
In the honest and the real, we are one with God's divinity.

(c) January 11, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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Thought For the Day: Stay Strong! Your Test Will Become Your Test-Imony, Your Mess Will Become Your Mess-age

“Stay strong! Your test will become your test-imony, your mess will become your mess-age.” – Max Lucado

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