“In time of peace there can, at all events, be no justification for the creation of a permanent debt by the Federal Government. Its limited range of constitutional duties may certainly under such circumstances be performed without such a resort.” – Martin Van Buren
“Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her own life.” – Viktor E. Frankl
A Nation's Passion Play
by Michael Doyle
From our earliest days, when we dwelt in caves,
We have tried to understand what it is that saves
Our rarest sentiments are served up like a delicacy
These are questionable as we define principled liberty
It is a hard road to pretend we're a civilized country
When we hung on so hard to the viciousness of slavery
Childish illusions struggle and toss around us nearly daily
Lost in the shame of the great escape, we are betrayed, maybe
We think it bold to speak of freedom with great sympathy
Toward those we don't hold as brothers in feigned empathy
Condemnation is the feeling behind our grasp of freedom
Despite the complexity, we hope we are spared wisdom
Held in the same chains by which we hold any others in
The best we have is the worst of the lesser man's sins
These are insurmountable in flavor that restrain our power
As we bend our bloody knees for moments of our best hours
Civilization, then, is the best influence of a good woman
Who can look us in the eyes and cure us of our inflicted demon
Crossing the stormy seas, barely managing to keep control
Until the power of love manages to hold onto our souls
We think it bold to speak of freedom with great sympathy
Toward those we don't hold as brothers in feigned empathy
Condemnation is the feeling behind our grasp of freedom
Despite the complexity, we hope we are spared wisdom
(c) March 25, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” – Will Rogers
Due North
by Michael Doyle
In these days
When everything has gone frothy
In a million ways
We need those around to be worthy
That's who my friend had always been
The one I knew was good for the win
Ever since back in high school
I knew her to be nobody's fool
Time had passed and slipped on by
We had lost track, her with her smile
And me, with my proverbial sigh
She held onto her style
And when we met again a lifetime past
We were still the same as the last
She said I had the same smile she recalled
I just looked and searched for words that stalled
She was still her but fighting cancer
And I was still searching for an answer
It was good that we connected on Facebook
So that she couldn't turn and look
To see a tear in my eyes as I raised her prayer
Asking the good lord to be more than fair
We kept it simple as we traded quips
Everything would be alright, was the lie on my lips
I looked in on her, watching her progress
How calmly she faced life's ongoing test
She said she had gained a paddleboarder's perspective
And her demeanor seemed all the more reflective
How brave she is and has always been
She was the type who kept cool since way back when
And I was the one constantly searching for an answer
If there was a way to beat it, we'd beat this cancer
Paddleboarding was her peace to keep things real
And hers was a soul that knew how to stay still
The crisis that was hitting her maybe it was surreal
But I know her soul and can guess what she'd feel
The calm, clear water would give way to her glide
As she found her time and her challenge in stride
Life is like this, wherever we are, there we are
Paddling due north, all to reach that true north star
Mindfulness in all of its focus and concentration
And as a friend, I look on with a degree of fascination
She had once said that I had not changed at all
And she is still that girl that I'll always recall
I had been new to the place when we met in the hallway
And now we've reconnected, and it's as if only yesterday
Come Hell or high water, joyous laughter or cancer
She always awes me, and I'll be the boy in search of an answer
(c) March 24, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
“The question is not what rights naturally belong to ma, but how they may be most equally and effectually guarded in society.” – Roger Sherman
“The timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.” – Kahlil Gibran, in The Prophet
Set Free
by Michael Doyle
Life has me trying to find myself
It's not like a book on the shelf
But it's me who I learn how to read
As life comes at me as it makes me bleed
To live in faith brings grace
It's known in the confidence trace
That we can face all that takes place
As we confront the world face-to-face
Children of the most high king
We've brought all that we can bring
As we live our lives every day
Living it in God's holy way
Works of faithfulness in relation
Walking God's affection across our nation
We learn every moment to believe
We are worthy of God's love to receive
Empowered by His loving liberation
We walk His way in every situation
Obedience to this life or loss to sin's death
We live as Christians with every breath
Putting aside the control of impurity
We unshackle from the chains of sin's slavery
For all this, we have gained eternity
This is what our liberating God means to you and me
Redemptive grace works its wonders to see
All the best that can come from me
Working for humanity's best in every test
We then allow God to do the rest
Having been shown that we cannot serve two
We must choose which will master me and you
This is the path and pattern of our responsibility
Living God's ways to our best capability
Shame or confidence forms our life's identity
It's a decision resting on our dependency
Fully embraced, we reach out to the other side
The fullness of our grasp cannot hide
Resurrected, we live to make our way ever forward
Carried to life by Christ, ever toward
Life from death, not by our own effort
But by the Savior to whom we must comport
Our tendencies trend toward occasional sin
This is where we need Jesus as our friend
Faithfully, our salvation is outside of our control
Only Jesus can give himself on behalf of our souls
Transforming our allegiance to Christ's ways
Switching from the worldly to Jesus's love in our days
Works of righteousness are a response to God's love
Radically different, we conform to Heaven above
We find ourselves fully living in it
Knowing that God's ways are brilliant
We abide under His unmatchable majesty
Becoming transformed within God's legacy
(c) March 23, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
“The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.“ – Dwight Moody
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.
