“Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care.” – William Safire
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Thought For the Day: Is Sloppiness In Speech Caused By Ignorance Or Apathy? I Don’t Know and I Don’t Care
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Apathy, Care, Ignorance, Know, Slopiness, Speech, Thought For the Day, William Safire
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Crossing Over From Greenpoint
Crossing Over From Greenpoint
by Michael Doyle
My crossing over from Greenpoint into the city
Every day was had via subway and was not pretty
And it was different for a Californian man
Yet, there was no other way into Manhattan
At least, not that made any kind of particular sense
Waking up that first day at dawn and without pretense
I began a pattern of photographing from morning until night
Starting with the crack of the morning's earliest light
Somehow, I managed to photograph NYC's every borough
I was following the guidebooks until I got to know
New York City well enough that the locals would ask
How to get to some places best, and what was my daily task
Though I have to admit, I remember a danceable anxiety
In learning the transit system in all of its complexity
And some walks seemed to go on forever at that time
But these mistakes let me discover moments of the sublime
Of all the cities, one finds the best food after midnight
Guided as I was by the city's buzz and amazing neon lights
Fruit stuffed breast of duck at 2 am and for under six
And a nature reserve or two hidden in the city's sticks
I told myself I was there to visit a friend in the hospital
And I did that, but the city was inviting and hospitable
I made the most of it that I could, even riding the ferry
Instead of unfriendliness, I made friends to the contrary
Finding that The Bronx Zoo and Central Park were just two
Of the sights that brought perspective and gave a view
That held memories like horse-drawn carriages to ride
And the joy of finding open hearts to which I did confide
The joy of crossing over from Greenpoint to St. John's morning
There were points like Little Odessa that bore its warning
But Coney Island and its hot dogs were a Sunday sort of treat
And did I mention the warm-hearted people I managed to meet?
And maybe it is true that remembering can find a way to lie
But looking back, I do not even begin to question as to why
Some of these memories of wandering will always be a treat
And did I mention the warm-hearted people I managed to meet?
(c) December 16, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Bronx Zoo, brooklyn, Buzz, California, Central Park, Complexity, Coney Island, Crossing Over, Ferry, Food After Midnight, Friendliness, Getting Lost, Greenpoint, Horse-Drawn Cariage, Hospitable, Hospital, Hot Dogs, Little Oddessa, Manhattan, Memories, Morning Until Night, Neon Lights, New York City, Open Hearts, Photography, Poetry and Poems, Sights, St. John's, Sublime, Subway, Sunday, Transit System, Travel, Williamsburg
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Thought For the Day: Whoever It Was Who Searched the Heavens With A Telescope and Found No God Would Not Have Found the Human Mind If He Had Searched the Brain With A Microscope
“Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had searched the brain with a microscope.” – George Santayana
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Brain, George Santayana, Heavens, Human Mind, Microscope, No God, Search, Telescope, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: If There Is A Form of Government, Whose Principles and Foundation Is A Virtue, Will Not Every Sober Man Acknowledge It Better Calculated To Promote the General Happiness Than Any Other Form
“If there is a form of government, then, whose principle and foundation is virtue, will not every sober man acknowledge it better calculated to promote the general happiness than any other form?” – John Adams (1776)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Acknowledge, First Principles, Form, Foundation, Genera Happiness, Government, John Adams, Principle, Sober Man, Virtue
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Just Learning My Faith’s Ways
Just Learning My Faith's Ways
by Michael Doyle
Just learning, I managed my doubts
Finding out what God's all about
There was so much to take in
When I was looking to escape my sins
Of all the miracles, like the virgin birth
It challenges most for what it's worth
Still, it was self-righteous Pharisees
And other religious hypocrites like the Sadducees
The disciples watched what Jesus did
Then, emulated this, keeping nothing hid
Feeding the 5000 bread and fish one day
We learned that no one else does this this way
Miracles out of nowhere led to progress
They reveal themselves necessary to pass life's tests
Resurrection necessarily links in Christ's incarnation
In all, this is a new life for the Christian nation
Received in faith, we unite with God's trust
Being reliable and reachable as they must
Searching the margins for the risks to undertake
All for the good of God's holy sake
Acts of God require some plausibility
Found in the holiest of supernatural possibility
Faith is never a kind of blind leap
It's more a matter of promises meant to keep
Faith is not a genie released with a blank check
Or an invitation to make a life into a wreck
But faith is always our best, first and last choice
It's that last celestial spark that follows God's voice
The Bible is not just pastoral words of inspiration
But when heard, it is the true story of creation
Whispered in echoes of blessed bits of truth
That we hold close to our hearts from our youth
There's an abundant sharing of outward grace
When humanity is cleansed through God's embrace
All of us are damned with and through accidental intent
Until we are saved through the grace of Christ-sent
Sinless and yet with us, Jesus lived and walked
Among us, as in His example, He taught and talked
It was in a virgin birth that he was conceived
Then, He taught us the theology that we received
Announced to His people and to His nation
Were the doings of our merciful salvation
All of this coming for our own higher good
It is the faith of Christ best understood
(c) December 15, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged All About, Bible, Challenges, Christian Nation, Christianity, Disciples, Doubt, Faith, God, Incarnation, Jesus, Learn, Life's Tests, Margins, Miracle, Miracles Out of Nowhere, Pharisees, Poetry and Poems, Progress, Received, Reliable and Reachable, Ressurection, Risk, Sadducees, Sins, Take In, Trust, Undertake, Virgin Birth, Ways, Worth
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First Principles: God Made Him Who Had No Sin To Be Sin For Us, So That In Him We Might Become the Righteousness of God
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Posted in First Principles
Tagged 2 Corinthians 5:21, First Principles, God, Him, Rightousness, Sin, Us
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Thought For the Day: For You Created My Inmost Being; You Knit Me Together In My Mother’s Womb. I Praise You Because I Am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” – Psalm 139:13-14
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Created, Fearfully and Wonderfully, Inmost Being, Knit, Know, Mother's Womb, Praise, Psalm 139:13-14, Thought For the Day, Together, Wonderful, Works
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Children of Our Sun
Children of Our Sun
by Michael Doyle
Tonight, under the rise of the Cold Moon
I realize another year has passed too soon
And still, old truths bear the necessity
Of being repeated with some incredulity
Daily chaos brings particles of light
That refract under the strains of the night
Oftentimes, the shards of derelict creation
Shatter on the limits of our damnation
We, the children of our shining sun
The third planet away and then done
We must speak our truths vigorously
Carrying on with our passions fearlessly
Here, in slow homage to the faceless dead
Those who carry on as ghosts in our heads
Remind us that we are not precision clocks
Nor are we necessarily meant to be orthodox
There is nothing selfish about honesty
Instead, it is to give all to live in integrity
The heretic knows the necessity of individualism
To believe tyranny brings freedom takes an optimism
That far exceeds that which my mind can hold
Known facts cannot be suppressed but must be told
We must fight against the fog of lies and misinformation
If we are to have the best for our beloved nations
(c) December 14, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Beloved Nations, Best, Chaos, Children, Creation, Damnation, Done, Faceless Dead, Fearlessly, Fog of Lies, Freedom, Ghosts, Head, Heretic, Homage, Honesty, Individualism, Integrity, Known Facts, Light, Limits, Mind, Misinformation, Necessity, Night, Old Truths, Optimism, Orthodox, Particles, Passions, Poetry and Poems, Precision Clocks, Repeated, Selfish, Shards, Soon, Strain, Sun, The Cold Moon, Third Planet, Tonight, Truth, Tyranny, Vigorously, Year
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First Principles: War Is Not the Best Engine For Us To Resort To; Nature Has Given Us One In Our Commerce
“War is not the best engine for us to resort to; nature has given us one in our commerce, which if properly managed, will be a better instrument for obliging the interested nations of Europe to treat us with justice.” – Thomas Jefferson (1797)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Best Engine, Commerce, First Principles, Instrument, Justice, Nations, Nature, Oblige, Properly Managed, Thomas Jefferson, War
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Thought For the Day: You Can Tell Whether A Man Is Clever By His Answers. You Can Tell Whether A Man Is Wise By His Questions
“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.” – Naguib Mahfouz, writer, Nobel laureate (11 Dec 1911-2006)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Answer, Clever, Naguib Mahfouz, Question, Thought For the Day, Wise
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ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 