“If the laws are to be so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put at one stroke to republican government, and nothing but anarchy and confusion is to be expected thereafter.” – George Washington
“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.” – Aristotle
That I Might Be of Service
by Michael Doyle
Jesus is the holy and sacred name
Of the one who took away my shame
Powerful enough to break every chain
Refreshing my life like the pouring rain
Every day begins on my knees
Talking to God who hears my pleas
Through they're not needed in this conversation
His holiness overcomes all devastation
He is worthy of every song
And I know where I belong
With every breath that I take
My savior knows and forgives every mistake
In wonder, I look toward the skies
Believing and loving His sight in my eyes
I know that He died to save sinners like me
He opened my eyes to the living possibility
That maybe I might be of service
And so I live to do His purpose
He is worthy of every song that I sing
As I put my trust in each new day He brings
(c) February 18, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
“Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights.” – Marquis de Lafayette
“Stars are holes in the sky from which the light of the infinite shines.” – Confucius
“Sensible of the importance of Christian piety and virtue to the order and happiness of a state, I cannot but earnestly commend to you every measure for their support and encouragement … Manners, by which not only the freedom, but the very existence of the republics, are greatly affected, depend much upon the public institutions of religion and the good education of youth; in both these instances our fathers laid wise foundations, for which their posterity have had reason to bless their memory.” – John Hancock
“It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going, because they were holding on to something. That there is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, voiced by Samwise Gamgee, in The Two Towers
The Struggle To Get It Right
by Michael Doyle
Getting right with God in every way
Is an explanation made every day
To see what we believe and understand
And what it means to study what God commands
The soundest study is done creatively
As we openly examine humanity's depravity
Pushing toward and forward to how we should be
That is, if, we want the best for humanity
No one is righteous but by God's grace
Instead, conscious of sin, we seek God's embrace
Spreading the gospel of believers as we can
We seek to repent, conforming God inside man
A study of the law reveals our measure
As we live our lives for what we treasure
Still, we come up short, and in need of redemption
Receiving God's grace in our contemplation
Christ came as a living sacrifice to atone
So that God might reconcile humanity alone
To conform our lives to what we believe
Fulfilling our purpose, as best that we might conceive
Growing in our beliefs with solid confidence
We become justified by Jesus in His providence
This come through our faith, not our performance
This is not by our works, but by our conformance
Not by faith, but through faith's connection
We find the cross provides our direction
To live our lives for what is that Jesus did
And letting this shine and not be hid
Our faith is centered on Jesus's death and resurrection
To cast our lives fully in the righteous direction
We must keep the truths revealed in our contemplation
Knowing that it is through Christ we know redemption
Jews and Gentiles alike must look toward God's light
To bring the clarity of faith to this world's night
We are alike on the level ground at the foot of the cross
This is the universal shift and gain that is never a loss
Sharing the same needs, we respond to our Father's call
As we come to know unity in the righteousness of the law
Bringing justice agree in forbearance and justification
This becomes ushered in as the prevailing explanation
All of scripture and prophecy points in testimony
Toward the messiahship of Christ without acrimony
In all the truths of righteousness that have been revealed
There is nothing in this remaining concealed
In the great wide open of faith we have been given
Is the conduit through which we are forgiven
It is enough that we have come to believe
And that our salvation is justified as received
It's not about me and you that it has been done
But in the atonement provided through God's son
The deed of sacrifice is that which is fully justified
By and through the justifier who for three days died
Shortcomings, sins, and patterns of our own deceptions
Were replaced that we might have our redemption
Punishing the sin, preserving the sinner is God's way
That became fulfilled on the cross that righteous day
There is no boasting of what was given to us freely
There is simply what has been done for you and me
It is not about obedience to God's unchanging law
But only about, instead, responding to God's loving call
Despite this wealth of grace, we are still to follow the law
This then, after all, is the foundation for us all
From baptism to communion, let it not be the least hid
That our belief is based on gratitude for what Jesus did
(c) February 16, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
“There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous.” – Blaise Pascal
Văn Học Ngoại Biên — Literature Beyond
-Reviews, Advice & News For All Things Tech and Gadget Related-
Shape Your Mind, Body, and Spirit to Prosperity
Traveling Fashion Designers 🌼
A daily dose of God’s touch in a minute...
Heading out of Australia to escape this Aussie winter. First stop Japan, then UK/Ireland and if work doesn't call me back, onto Chicago. I will make it up as I go along
Looking ahead, without looking back (too often)
"What a strange bundle of consistent inconsistencies we all are." Mary Ronan
Spiritual Hope . Joyful Faith . Trust in God
My Mormon (sic exmo, cultural, ethnic?) Transgender Second Life
Al cielo.. e niente di meno!🌈
Book Reviewer and Blogger
Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of her life, every quality of her mind, is written large in her works.
Grow. Glow. Inspire!
time management coaching
Sacred Indicators of Body, Heart and Soul.
Master of some trades, Jill of the rest.
History Dignifies the Presidents