Thought For the Day: Where Is God? Where Can I Find Him?” We Don’t Realize That’s Like A Fish Swimming Frantically Through the Ocean In Search of the Ocean

“Where is God? Where can I find him?” we ask. We don’t realize that’s like a fish swimming frantically through the ocean in search OF the ocean” – Ted Dekker

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First Principles: For In the Gospel the Righteousness of God Is Revealed – A Righteousness That Is By Faith From First To Last, Just As It Is Written. The Righteous Will Live By Faith

“For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed–a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” – Romans 1:17 (NIV)

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A Desire For Positive Impact

A Desire for Positive Impact
by Michael Doyle

This an age that embraces the apocalypse constantly
It is hard to find anyone left who feels empathy
For those who want to live a life to its fullest measure
It is as though we have forgotten what there is to treasure

Too often, humans want to see humanity's demise
Having so little imagination as to need their own two eyes
To see the worst of what comes as a final calamity
To want to live longer becomes seen as some kind of vanity

Goethe's kernels of wisdom become a beacon of light
That shines brightly for those who rage against the night
There is vibrancy found in those who find achievement
In searching for and finding life's final fulfillment

A man comes to know himself less by thinking than doing
Taking on challenges, not introspection is our true duty
Embracing new experiences and living a life of true action
Is the way to discover potential and gain new satisfaction

Nurturing new meaningful connections brings us the delight
To keep inspired with the joy that keeps a man's life right
Shared interests forge the best of our new relationships
It's the sort of cherished love that approaches our worship

There is an essential virtue found in our giving generosity
This is especially true when it is accompanied by modesty
However it is chosen, we must give back to our community
We live best when part of that greater something of humility

Still, even the good life comes full of contradictions
Those who grapple with these best offer the indication
That is best to wrestle with acceptance and reach harmony
This leads to more peace and brings about our empathy

A man's character becomes tested in irregular circumstance
These determine our capacity in the unexpected game of chance
Twists and turns bring us our continued growth and discovery
Grace and strength weather the needed increase of flexibility

Let your vitality be passionate with purpose and enthusiasm
Let it be a tempered force to keep this world in its optimism
When it is shared with reason and healthy sense of self-control
It is as good for inspiration of others as it is for your soul

Truth seeking is the only path toward cultivating wisdom
We have known this since our youth, whatever may come
Questioned assumptions bring about new senses of perspective
We are kept in our youth by being continually reflective

Nature's secrets require an appreciation for beauty and art
These provide profound truths that nourishes a healthy heart
In all of this transcendence, we need balance and moderation
Discipline and self-awareness are the tools of our causation

As a man ages, he must think on the results of how he acts
I, myself, seek to leave my legacy of desired positive impacts
It is with unique capacity that I seek to make my difference
Holding God, nature, and all of humanity in my reverence

(c) January 4, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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First Principles: It Should Be Your Care…To Elevate the Minds of Our Children and Exalt Their Courage

“It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives.” – John Adams (1756)

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Thought For the Day: Children Require Guidance and Sympathy Far More Than Instruction

“Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instruction.” – Anne Sullivan

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Born Into This World

Born Into This World
by Michael Doyle

We are born into this wounded world
In which we see the need for improvement
It often feels as if we're hurled
Becoming ourselves is our greatest accomplishment

Grasping for the bits and pieces we can find
That which which we grievously call out as love
We are desperate to not be or feel left behind
Some of us dare to rise our eyes above

Discontent at scratching the drowning surface
Our harshest critics are often ourselves
Needing to felt warmth we seek the world's embrace
Be it the crowd or from books on shelves

A written script of fallacies passes for culture
Making fools of ourselves becomes the essential
Those who wake find this culture is for vultures
And discover the need to fulfill their potential

It's a gambit to find the beauty of tomorrow
The eccentric opinions whisper in our ears
These humble beginnings stumble past sorrow
And point to the best of your and my coming years

Don't pay attention to anyone's praise or blame
True freedom comes from our self-sufficiency
We have been told and it truly is some kind of game
Our victory requires us to move beyond dependency

It is better to die speaking your truth and soul
Than to be loved for something that you are not
Speak who you are to the world and keep your own control
This is how to be memorable and not fade and be forgot

In blind faith, I pass this lesson on to my daughters
That the best they can be is what they find in themselves
I whisper this as my prayer as a loving father
Don't be me but be you and please don't be anyone else

(c) January 3, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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First Principles: An Equal Dispensation of Protection, Rights, Privileges, and Advantages, Is What Every Part Is Entitled To, and Ought To Enjoy

“The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy.” – Benjamin Franklin (1774)

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Thought For the Day: To Be Yourself In A World That Is Constantly Trying To Make You Something Else Is the Greatest Accomplishment

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Walking In Step

Walking In Step
by Michael Doyle

Life's paths can lead us to darkness
Wrong choices can bring us harshness
But our God's love is good
It is how we live and it's understood

That saying yes to God is often forgotten
Preferring to live an easy life misbegotten
Only we find that the easy is often the bad
And it's in no way better than what could be had

The doors of life open and curiously close
As we wonder aloud at the paths we have chose
Looking forward to walk in step and keep in stride
We need to be open to what it is that God provides

This is the truth the pages of the Bible have told
We need this genuine truth to think on and behold
God is found as the Sun and yet is our sacred shield
Pressing forward and into what we find that life will yield

Nothing good will God withhold
As long as it is what His will unfolds
For the good of His holy kingdom
And what will lead to the good needed to come

Like a prodigal son wondering what's left
I know that I need to step up to be in step
So much I've done that has been wrong
Yet, still, I know that I somehow belong

Homecoming is needed to be truly felt
To be forgiven for the life that I've been dealt
Jesus has come to calm every storm
Stillness has come to be my new norm

I've seen the miracles with my own eyes
It has been enough to quietly recognize
That the Lord does not leave me alone
No matter how much I need to atone

There is nothing I've done that I need to hide
I know that Jesus is always by my side
Everything that happens must be gone through
If we are to know the goodness of me and you

It turns out that everyone has their place to be
Mines is wherever you are with me...

(c) January 2, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: We Keep Moving Forward, Opening New Doors, and Doing New Things, Because We’re Curious and Curiosity Keeps Leading Us Down New Paths

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

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