“It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” – Romans 9:16 NIV
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First Principles: It Does not, Therefore, Depend on Human Desire Or Effort, But On God’s Mercy
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Depend, Effort, First Principles, God's Mercy, Human Desire, Romans 9:16 NIV
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Poetry Is Simple
Poetry Is Simple
by Michael Doyle
She said writing poems is simple,
Just write what you want to say.
Then suddenly, it's simple,
Or so the natural-born poets say.
They try to give the secret away,
As if it were something of the everyday.
Yet, what's missing is the clarity
That only comes through authenticity.
Most spend their lives making food.
Believing in yesterday, thoughts intrude.
Life, for some, is an easy game to play.
I think maybe life is the connection along the way.
Time and again, we find rejection,
But it's the truth that comes from this negation.
Sometimes, we are all just fighting to survive.
We get choked up trying to stay above.
A lonely child longs for a mother's embrace.
It can be seen in the sorrow on the child's face.
Life's struggles are worse for those in poverty,
Such a burden is best shared in a loving family.
(c) May 5, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Authenticity, Believe, Child's Face, Choked Up, Connection, Everyday, Fighting To Survive, Intrude, Life, Life's Struggles, Lonely Child, Loving Family, Making Food, Missing Clarity, Mother's Embrace, Natural-Born Poet, Negation, Play, Poems, Poetry and Poems, Poverty, Rejection, Say, Secret, Shared, Simple, Sorrow, Stay Above, Thought, Time and Again, Truth, Worse, Writing, Yesterday
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First Principles: We Must Go Home To Be Happy, and Our Home Is Not In This World. Here We Have Nothing To Do But Our Duty
“We must go home to be happy, and our home is not in this world. Here we have nothing to do but our duty.” – John Jay
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Duty, First Principles, Happy, Home, John Jay, Nothing, World
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Thought For the Day: Live In the Sunshine, Swim the Sea, Drink the Wild Air
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Drink, Live, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sea, Sunshine, Swim, Thought For the Day, Wild Air
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Into God’s Family
Into God's Family
by Michael Doyle
Like prodigals, we hit rock bottom,
Brokering what's right for what's rotten.
The self-righteous can be too blind to see.
The truth of grace is needed for you and me.
Returning home, we are still family.
We must, of course, accept this gracefully.
Both the righteous and the lost need rescue,
If only we'd take up our father's cue.
To live life is to become truly whole.
Each of us must learn to heal our souls.
The world shares its holy connection.
For those wandering lost and the Christian nation.
Unceasing anguish is felt in our sorrow,
As we look out into our tomorrow.
No longer standing in the way
Of the Lord's compassion, we turn to pray.
It's time to no longer focus inward.
It's time to turn our hearts outward.
Thinking of those who aren't in our community,
And inviting them, too, into God's family.
(c) May 2, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Blind, Broeker, Christian Nation, Community, Compassion, Cue, God's Family, Gracefully, Heal Our Souls, Holy Connection, Invite, Inward, Live Life, Outward, Poetry and Poems, Pray, Prodigals, Rescue, Return, Rock Bottom, Rotten, Sorrow, Sself-Righteous, Tomorrow, Truth of Grace, Wandering Lost, Whole
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Time Will Tell
Time Will Tell
by Michael Doyle
To begin a family
Even in a place like Tahiti,
Is something to approach gently.
It will be if it's meant to be.
It was a day like any other,
If your day was another
Day filled with paradise.
But if you're looking for advice
Then, the path to finding treasure
Has a rhythmic pace with measure.
Each day is its own best day,
And meant to be spent in its own way
Life is full of doors that open and close,
Not always in the ways we would have chose.
In this modern world, hearts are the same way,
Whatever else there might be to say.
Like a flower blossoms and grows,
Love is love, as any true heart knows.
Life is filled with many sighs.
As truth would have it, this leads to compromise.
The way of finding treasure is not entirely our own.
It happens as it happens, together or alone.
Such is the way of love we need to know
It often starts with the seeds we sow.
It's in the search that we find
The dreams we cannot leave behind.
These are the kindnesses of discovery,
All the memories are waiting for recovery.
It is said that pearls were the first light,
To shine their hope into the world's night.
When you see what you want, grab on tight,
Time will tell you if you are right.
(c) May 2, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Advice, Blossom, Chose, Compromise, Day, Discovery, Door, Family, First Light, Flower, Gently, Grab On Tight, Happen, Heats, Kindness, Know, Life, Love, Love Is Love, Measure, Memories, Night, Own Way, Paradise, Path, Pearls, Poetry and Poems, Recovery, Right, Search, Sigh, Sow, Tahiti, Tell, Time, Treasure, Want
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First Principles: Walking Is the Best Possible Exercise. Habituate Yourself To Walk Very Far
“Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.” – Thomas Jefferson
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Best Possible, Exercise, First Principles, Habituate, Thomas Jefferson, Very Far, Walk
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Thought For the Day: Keep Away From People Who Try To Belittle Your Ambitions. Small People Always Do That, But the Really Great Make You Feel That You, Too, Can Become Great
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” – Mark Twain
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Ambition, Become Great, Belittle, Keep Away, Mark Twain, People, Small People, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: On This National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, We Ask Almighy God To Watch Over Our Nation and Grant As Patience and Resolve In All That Is To Come
“On this National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, we ask almighty God to watch over our nation, and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come. We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow. We thank Him for each life.” – George W. Bush
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Ask, First Pricniples, George W. Bush, God, Nation, National Day of Prayer, Patience, Pray, Promise, Remembrance, Resolve, Sorrow
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Thought For the Day: The Fear of the Lord Is the Beginning of Wisdom
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” – Solomon
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Beginning, Fear, Lord, Solomon, Thought For the Day, Wisdom
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