“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6 NIV
Flickr Photos
The Lessons Learned
The Lessons Learned
by Michael Doyle
Looking back on the wandering years,
There were smiles, and there were tears.
It seemed at times the days' long length
Were pushing me to grow and gain strength.
Taking comfort in the days the Lord made,
I bowed my head, gratefully and unafraid.
God's love was more than I could conceive,
And enough to know I'd always believe.
The lessons learned have made me rejoice.
Through all God's love, I have gained my voice.
Standing in God's presence, I will humbly speak
The truth of knowing God is strong when I am weak.
The joy of the Lord will always carry me through
Whatever comes my way and despite my wandering view.
I listened to the wisdom that the pastor speaks,
As I grew up to be a man in all the passing weeks.
Wandering through the passing years and the days,
Each miracle unbound has proved worthy of my praise.
In the long run, I learned to obey as I need,
And what paths to follow, I have come to heed.
The lessons learned have made me rejoice.
Through all God's love, I have gained my voice.
Standing in God's presence, I will humbly speak
The truth of knowing God is strong when I am weak.
Though life has risen up like a raging river,
And there have been times that made me shake and shiver.
I have always known with faith and good reliance,
That God would never give up on me despite my defiance.
In my wandering, I have grown into truly knowing
The faith that is returned and abundantly showing.
I have felt God's love filling every holy space,
Knowing that my salvation comes from God's loving grace.
The lessons learned have made me rejoice.
Through all of God's love, I have gained my voice.
Standing in God's presence, I will humbly speak
The truth of knowing God is strong when I am weak.
(c) Agust 22, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Believe, Bible, Christianity, Comfort, Conceive, Days, Faith, God, God's Love, Grateful, Jesus, Learn, Length, Lessons, Looking Back, Poetry and Poems, Presence, Push, Rejoice, Smiles, Speak, Strength, Strong, Tears, The Lord, Truth, Unafraid, Voice, Wandering Years, Weak
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: Any Soldier Worth His Salt Should Be Antiwar. And Still There Are Things Worth Fighting For
“Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar. And still there are things worth fighting for.” – Norman Schwarzkopf
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Antiwar, Fight, Norman Schwarzkopf, Salt, Soldier, Thought For the Day, Worthiness
Leave a comment
First Principles: As To My Title, I Know Not Wheter It Will Be Honorable or Dishonorable, the Issue of the War Must Settle It. Perhaps Our Congress Will Be Exalted On A High Gallows
“As to my Title, I know not yet whether it will be honourable or dishonourable, the issue of the War must Settle it. Perhaps our Congress will be Exalted on a high Gallows.” – Abraham Clark
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Abraham Clark, Congress, Dishonorable, Exalation, First Principles, Gallows, Honorable, Issue, Title, War
Leave a comment
First Principles: Difficulties Are Meant To Rouse, Not Discourage. The Human Spirit Is To Grow Strong By Conflict
“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” William Ellery Channing
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Conflict, Difficiulties, Discouragement, First Principles, Human Spirit, Rouse, Strength, William Ellery Channing
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: The Reason It Hurts So Much To Separate Is Because Our Souls Are Connected
“The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected.” – Nicholas Sparks
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Connection, Hurt, Nicholas Sparks, Reason, Separation, Soul, Thought For the Day
Leave a comment
Pages Turn (The Night We Watched The Notebook)
Pages Turn (The Night We Watched the Notebook)
by Michael Doyle
Together in each other's heart,
You wanted to watch a movie.
We did our best, and each did our best part
You picked one to see how it would move me.
A summer spark with a kiss in the rain,
The story it told as it is, and so it goes.
The choices made bring love and sometimes pain.
Where the wheel lands, nobody knows.
Pages in a notebook are cherished and turned.
The memories of a lifetime are kept and learned.
A home is built with love and calloused hands.
True love is kept by those who truly understand.
Letters might be lost or kept from reading,
But a true heart knows even as it is bleeding.
Neither time nor distance can be froze.
Still, it is that heart knows just what it knows.
When the days grow older, the pages still turn.
The pages of our story will be read as we yearn.
I will tell you our truth from its very start,
Just so you remember the keeper of your heart.
Pages in a notebook are cherished and turned.
The memories of a lifetime are kept and learned.
A home is built with love and calloused hands.
True love is kept by those who truly understand.
In the boat of life, I will row you to shore,
Giving you love in memories and something more.
We will watch as the sweet birds take their flight,
And I will read to you until the morning's light.
Our two souls are sweetly bound to each other.
I could look the world over and never want another.
For as long as time, I will find where you stand,
And know the end of our time will find us hand in hand.
Pages in a notebook are cherished and turned.
The memories of a lifetime are kept and learned.
A home is built with love and calloused hands.
True love is kept by those who truly understand.
(c) August 21, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Calloused Hands, Cherish, Choice, Faith, Heart, Home, Kept, Kiss, Learned, Letter, Life, Lifetime, Lost, Love, Memories, Movie, Night, Notebook, Pages, Part, Poetry and Poems, Rain, Story, Summer Spark, The Notebook, Together, True Heart, True Love, Turn, Understand, Writing
Leave a comment
A Hero’s Journey Begins, Part II
A Hero's Journey Begins, Part II
by Michael Doyle
Each moment of life is loaded with intensity,
Peppered in each moment to withstand the immensity
Of whatever challenge might come our way.
This is the wake-up call of a hero's day.
Staying the course keeps the cool
That serves as every hero's school.
There are lessons every day that exceed the reach.
These lessons, in whatever form, seem to each
To test the preservation of meaning's cloud.
That is what is and isn't to be allowed.
None of this is down to any form or hard science.
But there's a lot to be said for the collective conscience.
Each hero is born to be set on their journey.
The choices made determine each hero's destiny.
It all comes down to a matter of trust.
Each sets out, and it comes down to get there or bust.
Life's messages are meant to be read
Over and over, without a sense of dread.
But instead, to discern with each turn
The lessons we have left to learn.
(c) August 20, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Beginning, Challenge, Collective Conscience, Cool, Course, Day, Hard Science, Hero, Immensity, Intensityy, Journey, Lesson, Life, Meaning, Peservation, Poetry and Poems, Reach, School, Way
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: There Are Those Who Seek Knowledge In Order To Serve; That Is Love
“There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.” – Bernard of Clairvaux
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Bernard of Clairvaux, Curiosity, Knowledge, Known, Love, Sake of Knowledge, Serve, Thought For the Day, Vanity
Leave a comment
First Principles: A Sacred Respect For the Constitutional Law Is the Vital Principles, the Sustaining Principle of a Free Government
“A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.” – Alexander Hamilton
It is too bad the DSA doesn’t realize this. In seeking to destroy the Constitution, they have pronounced themselves the enemies of the American way of life and as seekers of the destruction of our customs and traditions. After all, if you are not for the rule of law, have you not opened the floodgates to tyranny?
