“Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?” – James Madison (1788)
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First Principles: Law Is Defined To Be A Rule of Action; But How Can That Be A Rule, Which Is Little Known, and Less Fixed
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Define, First Principles, James Madison, Law, Less Fixed, Little Known, Rule, Rule of Action
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Sympathy
Sympathy
by Michael Doyle
The pains that we endure
For the things that we want.
We know there's no cure.
For the dogs that won't hunt.
Sleep it off
That's what they say.
Give us a cough,
Then, drink it away.
We gotta be who we gotta be,
That's always kinda troubled me.
Rock on to a full-blown catastrophe,
I won't ask for any sympathy.
Living hard for such sweet sorrow,
I'm going hot toward tomorrow.
Singing songs for no one here.
My ghosts have all disappeared.
Pushing forward to what won't suck.
It turns out I was born out of luck.
I played that guitar until my fingers bled,
But I couldn't get that song out of my head.
We gotta be who we gotta be,
That's always kinda troubled me.
Rock on to a full-blown catastrophe,
I won't ask for any sympathy.
You said we'd talk
When I was myself.
I got up to walk.
I guess you thought I was someone else.
I was at home in the darkness,
Finding light in the harshness.
Navigating my life by moonlight,
I took my best shots by second sight.
We gotta be who we gotta be,
That's always kinda troubled me.
Rock on to a full-blown catastrophe,
I won't ask for any sympathy.
(c) May 19, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Cure, Enure, Pain, Poetry and Poems, Sleep, Sympathy, Troubled, Want
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First Principles: The Liberties of A People Depend On Their Own Constant Attention To Its Preservation
“The liberties of a people depend on their own constant attention to its preservation.” – William Henry Harrison
Posted in First Principles
Tagged A People, Constant Attention, Depend, First Priciples, Liberties, Preservation, William Henry Harrison
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Thought For the Day: Happiness Is A Mysterious Thing, To Be Found Somewhere Between Too Little and Too Much
“Happiness is a mysterious thing, to be found somewhere between too little and too much.” – Ruskin Bond
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Happiness, Mysterious, Ruskin Bond, Thought For the Day, Too Little, Too Much
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Coming To Faith
Coming To Faith
by Michael Doyle
Jesus is known by His many names.
These are revealed as we examine Biblical claims.
We find it is with prayerful consideration
That there is power in every faithful iteration.
In the shadow and light of His sacrifice and resurrection,
We live our faith life inside its connections.
Each makes us more blessed every passing day.
We learn to follow and live Christ in every way.
The Book of Romans gives a lot to live on.
In many ways, it is like a spiritual marathon.
It takes a lot from us while giving us more.
It's the believer's constitution, intense and pure.
In reading through, there's a lot to getting ourselves right,
To live with dignity within the revealing of God's light.
Eventually, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess.
Perhaps, then, we must strive to always do our best.
In understanding the depths of depravity and our sins,
We find the beauty of God's surpassing love again.
Knowing the truth of where it is that we daily dwell,
And rest in God's assurance that all is and will be well.
As we walk out onto the theological leading edge,
Our zeal is one not solely based on knowledge.
It is based on faith that Christ fulfills the law
And our is to fervently respond to His holy call.
We keep the word of God faithfully near.
We hold our beliefs to be quite dear.
Confessing that the Lord is our only salvation.
God's sacrifice came as our only needed explanation.
Trusting in the Lord, we know no need for shame,
Jew and Gentile call on his Holy, blessed name.
Calling on his known names, we find our way to salvation.
It is the path for our faithful nation.
Believing and living the Word's message heard,
This is the truth of the Gospel observed.
Though, at times, this seems maybe overly demanding,
God will and does supply our path to understanding.
Too often, we find ourselves an obstinate people,
Despite generations of being raised in the Temple.
All this to get to the point where we can discern
What it is that we all must know and need to learn.
It is in this moment of rational conversion,
We find God waiting for us in our observation
That sometimes we backslide into our surrender,
And finally, I find God's love to be warm and tender.
The best messages come with callouses grown,
Showing the truth without fear as it is known.
Faith shines through in the moments we share,
Professing our belief as deeply as we dare.
(c) May 18, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Assurance, Beauty, Believer's Constitution, Bible, Biblical Claims, Christ Fulfills the Law, Christianity, Coming To Faith, Confess, Connection, Daily Dwell, Dignity, Explanation, Faith, God, God's Light, Holy Call, Iteration, Jesus, Knowledge, Live Christ, Many Names, Near, Passing Day, Poetry and Poem, Power, Prayerful Consideration, Respond, Sacrifice and Resurrection, Salvation, Shadow and Light, Sin, Spiritual Marathon, Strive, Surpassing Love, The Book of Romans, Theological Leading Edge
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Thought For the Day: Since No Man Is Excluded From Calling Upon God the Gate of Salvation is Open To All. There Is Nothing Else To Hinder Us From Entering, But Our Own Unbelief
“Since no man is excluded from calling upon God the gate of salvation is open to all. There is nothing else to hinder us from entering, but our own unbelief.” – John Calvin
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged All, Call, Enter, Excluded, Gate of Salvation, God, Hinder, John Calvin, Man, No Person, Open, Thought For the Day, Unbelief
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First Principles: If You Declare With Your Mouth, “Jesus Is Lord,” and Believe In Your Heart That God Raised Him From the Dead, You Will Be Saved
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9 NIV
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Believe, Dead, Declare, First Principles, God, Heart, Jesus Is Lord, Raised, Romans 10:9 NIV, Saved, Your Mouth
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Sudden Thunderstorm
Sudden Thunderstorm
by Michael Doyle
When I left to go hike, the skies were clear.
I just wanted God and nature's path to be near.
Besides missing my daughters, my world had no care.
It turned out that this illusion was its own snare.
Having hiked Otter's Trail, there was still energy
Enough that it begged for another hike taken by me.
I drove through Versailles Park and found Orchard Trail,
I wondered to myself how I would find its unraveling tale.
Watching the baby squirrels jump high from limb to limb,
And the young chipmunks sprawling the ground like a jungle gym,
I tried to reassure them in the ways that I acted.
Maybe that's why I didn't notice and became overly distracted.
Suddenly, the woods were shadowed by a rude sense of darkness.
It seemed as though I could somehow feel the harshness.
The animals seemed at once to quietly nestle and disappear.
The birds became silent, and I knew that rain would soon be there.
A thunderclap sounded and carried with it the first lightning.
Looking at the skies, I realized it was ugly and frightening.
These were tornado skies, and I had a distance to my car.
I quietly prayed this would not prove to become too far.
The snakes of fire came crawling like twists of light,
Bringing a touch of brightness to this overly darkening night
Until a wrath of rain began its torrential downpour.
That's when my GPS decided to tell me something more.
To get home, I would be driving through the middle of the cell,
Where more than one tornado would add to my travails.
The winds began to pick up as drove fast watching buildings rock,
Straight-line winds pack more of a punch than to moan and talk.
By the time I had arrived home, the radio announcer had said
That over twenty-three people lost their lives and are now dead.
The carnage of tornadoes touched down throughout the heartland.
Shaken, I find this loving intention of God hard to understand.
(c) May 17, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Acted, Baby Squirrels, backpacking, Birds, Brightness, Buildings, Car, Cell, Chipmunks, Clear, Darkness, Daughters, Dead, Disappear, Distance, Distracted, Energuy, God, GPS, Hard To Understand, Harshness, Heartland, Hike, hiking, Illusion, Life, Lightning, Limb, Loving Intention of God, Moan and Talk, Nature, No Care, Orchard Trail, Otter Trail, Poetry and Poems, Pray, Punch, Rain, Rock, Shadowed, Shaken Up, Silent, Skies, Snakes of Fire, Snare, Straight-Line Winds, Thunderclap, Thunderstorm, Tornado, Tornado Skies, Torrential Downpour, Travail, Travel, Twists of Light, Ugly and Frightening, Versailles Park, Weather, Woodland, Wrath of Rain
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First Principles: Without Justice Being Freely, Fully, and Impartially Administered, Neither Our Persons, Nor Our Rights, Nor Our Property Can Be Protected
“Without justice being freely, fully, and impartially administered, neither our persons, nor our rights, nor our property, can be protected. And if these, or either of them, are regulated by no certain laws, and are subject to no certain principles, and are held by no certain tenure, and are redressed, when violated, by no certain remedies, society fails of all its value; and men may as well return to a state of savage and barbarous independence.” – Justice Joseph Story
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Administer, First Principles, Free, Impartial, Independence, Justice, Justice Joseph Story, Law, Mankind, Persons, Principles, Property, Protect, Redress, Regulate, Remedy, Rights, Savage, Society, Tenure, Value, Violate
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Thought For the Day: The Proper Role of the Judiciary Is One of Interpreting and Applying the Law, Not Making It
“The proper role of the judiciary is one of interpreting and applying the law, not making it.” – Sandra Day O’Conner
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Apply, Interpet, Judiciary, Law, Not Making It, Proper Role, Sandra Day O'Conner, Thought For the Day
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