” Jesus lived in Judea, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and had followers who were persecuted for their faith in Christ.” – Tacitus (56-120AD)
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Thought For the Day: Jesus Lived In Judea, Was Crucified Under Pontius Pilate, and Had Followers Who Were Persecuted For Their Faith In Christ
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Tagged Christ, Crucifixon, Faith, Followers, Jesus, Judea, Persecution, Pontius Pilate, Tacitus, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: Theirs Are the Patriarchs, and From Them Is Traced the Human Ancestry of the Messiah, Who Is God Over All, Forever Praised. Amen
“Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” – Romans 9:5
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Tagged First Principles, God, Human Ancestry, Messiah, Patriarchs, Praise, Romans 9:5, Theirs, Trace
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Of War and Valor
Of War and Valor
by Michael Doyle
The things of this world come in complexity.
What some face causes others frayed anxiety.
When we versify in earnest, we find the truth.
It can be as frustrating as an elder as it was in youth.
It was this way for me week among friends
Who hold counter-opinions frayed at their ends
About deeply contested issues brought to light
And as for myself, I'd rather hike than fight
What in war, we too often confront and see
Is not that which it is that we want desperately.
There is very little love and too much brutality
And yet, both of these are the way of humanity.
Idealism speaks of citizen soldiers and sacrifice.
The truth is that doing one's duty manages to suffice.
It gets more complex in the hues of a divided nation.
Sometimes, these quandaries defy reasonable explanations.
It is suggested that it is sweet and fitting to die
For the well-being of others, and I choke on my reply.
If this were really true, the generals should go first
If this valor leaves them dry-mouthed and with thirst.
Go ahead, then, good general, please show us how it's done.
As you go into battle for glory, tell us when it's won.
Let the scales of justice define moral integrity
And let this be cone with the strictest impartiality.
For with the fall of virtue will come our fragility.
Otherwise, decay, betrayal, and hubris will burden our humility.
There, in the fallow battlefield, lays a tragic wasteland.
Where when death comes, no one is truly fit to command.
(c) April 26, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Anxiety, Brutality, Citizen Soldiers, Complexity, Confront, Counter-Oopinions, Desparate, Divided Nation, Duty, Earnest, Ends, Explanation, Fight, Friends, Frustrateion, Hike, Humanity, Idealism, Libht, Poetry and Poams, Sacrifice, See, Truth, Valor, War, World
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Thought For the Day: To Be Persuasive, We Must Be Believable; To Be Believable, We Must Credible; To Be Credible, We Must Be Truthful. It’s As Simple As That
“American traditions and the American ethic require us to be truthful, but the most important reason is that truth is the best propaganda and lies are the worst. To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that.” – Edward R. Murrow
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Tagged American Ethic, American Tradition, Belieable, Credible, Edward R. Murrow, Lies, Peersuasive, Simple, Thought For the Day, Truth, Truthful, Worsst
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First Principles: You Must First Enable the Government To Control the Governed; and In the Next Place, Oblige It To Control Itsel
“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” – James Madison
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Tagged Administered, Control, Difficulty, First Pinciples, Frame, Governened, Government, James Madison, Men Over Men, Oblige
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Father In A Modern World
Father In A Modern World
by Michael Doyle
Being a father who is generationally removed
Leaves very little feeling that life has improved.
The world is spinning, and it feels blurred
When I think of the changes that have occurred.
I watch my daughters rooting for their aspirations
At the same time, I cry for the broken nations
A life that consists of a cradle-to-empty career
Only leaves me tattered in my unshared tears
I watch them struggle between relationships,
Wondering if they believe in a god to worship.
As they make their own kind of choices,
Each of them independently finding their voices.
Will there be wedding pictures above a fireplace
Or just a cold house and a career they embrace?
I watch them walk away from sacred traditions
And try to feel fulfilled with pics of graduation
It takes a lot in life to press on that far.
I find myself thinking as I strum on this guitar,
Where's the bad of God, country, and the family?
It's all these things that mean so much to me.
There's a lot of discipline in the good girl mentality.
Mastering the skill sets requires great facility.
Still, all the things that I value aren't empty,
And what would be the harm of God, country, and family?
We have awakened at the dawn of a new girl order in life.
It's a day and age when it is meaningless to be a wife.
Only a new sense of the heroic feminist will save this day.
I watch over my daughters' sleeping, and I silently pray.
(c) April 25, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Aspiration, Believe, Blur, Broken Nations, Career, Change, Choice, Cradle, Daugvhters, Father, Feelling, Generationally Removed, Improved, Life, Modern World, Occur, Poetry and Poems, Relationship, Spin, Struggle, Voice, World
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First Principles: Whoever Commands the Sea, Commands the Trade; Whoever Commands the Trade of the World Commands the Riches of the World
“Whoever commands the sea, commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.” – Walter Raleigh
Let’s build these ships through manpower or robotics armed with AI and achieve parity with China. We must maintain freedom of the seas and allow trade to thrive.
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Comman, Consequence, First Principles, Riches of the World, Sea, The World, Trade, Trade of the World, Walter Raleigh
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Thought For the Day: ‘The Time Has Come, ‘ the Walrus Said, ‘To Talk of Many Things: of Shoes and Ships – and Sailing Wax – of Cabbages and Kings
‘The time has come,’ the walrus said, ‘to talk of many things: of shoes and ships – and sealing wax – of cabbages and kings.’ – Lewis Carroll
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Tagged Cabbages, Kings, Lewis Carroll, Sailing Wax, Ships, Shoe, Talk, The Time, The Walrus, Thought For the Day
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From High To Low
From High To Low
by Michael Doyle
Too many people believe in the niche
And from there won't budge an inch.
Truth? It pays to know about everything
Because then, you can choose what to bring
To the party of life's extremes.
From this, you can learn to work your dreams.
And the most needed of people do this
Despite how many others seem to miss
The factuality of this reality.
You need to know the high to the low.
If you are to be the one who is needed -
So, the wise have always pleaded.
Learning this seems an absurdity.
That out of enough of the ordinary
Are built things seemingly extraordinary,
Some of which become legendary.
From this, jazz came to be born
From a few notes played on a horn.
Folk music, developed from the ordinary,
It was improvised into the extraordinary.
Once born, it processed an accumulation
Of growth, as it first spread across the nation,
And unable to help itself, it became ever more
Into a richness that hinted at the poor.
A street urchin's knowledge of the street
Brought about a syncopated sense of beat.
From this plain English and sensibility
A skill set grew with accomplished ability
Grew and grew until all its notable joys
Became the bebop that sounded like noise
To those who didn't have quite the ear
For the dissonance that invoked fears
That, again, grew into a degree of fascination
Until a fusion was born in its exasperation
Learning again that all music is folk music heard
A sort of witch's brew, shaken and self-stirred
Someone call the press, and keep them on the phones
As we feel the downbeat deep in our riddled bones
However free form, jazz music is always synthesizing
And in its secret delights, it is always mesmerizing
(c) April 24, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Ability, Absuidity, Accumulation, Beat, Believe, Born, Budge, Despite, Developed, Dreams, Extraordinary, Extremes, Fusion, High, History, Horn, Improvised, Inch, Jazz, Know, Legendary, Low, Miss, More, Music, Nation, Needed, Niche, Ordinary, Plain English, Poetry, Poetry and Poems, Reality, Richness, Sensibility, Skill Set, Spread, Street Urchin, Syncopated, Truth, Wise, Writing
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Thought For the Day: The Habit of Reading Is the Only Enjoyment In Which There Is No Alloy; It Lasts When All Other Pleasures Fade
“The habit of reading is the only enjoyment in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all other pleasures fade.” – Anthony Trollope, novelist (24 Apr 1815-1882)
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Tagged Alloy, Anthony Trollope, Enjoyment, Habit, Last, Pleasure, Read, Thought For the Day
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