“Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.” – Lord Acton
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Thought For the Day: Authority That Does Not Exist For Liberty Is Not Authority But Force
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Tagged Authority, Exist, Force, Liberty, Lord Acton, Thought For the Day
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My Heart and Mind’s Connection
My Heart and Mind's Connection
by Michael Doyle
My heart and mind
Have left this world behind
Crossing as I follow
Jesus from out of the shadows
Finding my good cause
As I gently start to pause
Knowing I must change my ways
For all my coming days
Step-by-step
I turned next
To find my connection
Set sight in the right direction
Asking the hungry and the blind
No one should be left behind
For the faithfulness given
All of us can be forgiven
In every life's choice
It's best to follow His voice
Running for the finish line
I keep in the lane that's mine
Even as this world trembles and shakes
I press on with every stride I make
Following my Lord Jesus in my heart
Deeper than perhaps I had at the start
(c) January 9, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Ask, Behind, Blind, Change, Connection, Cross, Days, Deep, Faithfulness, Finish Line, Follow, Forgiven, Good Cause, Heart, Hungry, Jesus, Know, Lane, Left Behind, Life's Choice, Lord Jesus, Mind, Mine, Pause, Poetry and Poems, Press On, Right Direction, Run, Shadow, Sight, Start, Step-By-Step, Stride, Tremble and Shake, Turn, Voice, Ways, World
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First Principles: A Constitution of Government Once Changed From Freedom, Can Never Be Restored. Liberty, Once Lost, Is Lost Forever
“A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” – John Adams, in a letter to Abigail Adams (July 7, 1775)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Abigail Adams, Changed, Constitution, First Principles, Forever, Freedom, Government, John Adams, Liberty, Lost, Restored
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Thought For the Day: You Don’t Get To Choose How You’re Going To Die. Or When. You Can Only Decide How You’re Going To Live. Now.
“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now.” – Joan Baez, American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist (b. January 9, 1941)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Choose, Decision, Die, Joan Baez, Live, Now, Thought For the Day, When
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About A Death
About A Death
by Michael Doyle
Today, I watched a show about death
I have to admit, it took away my breath
As I try to write this bit of poetry
It's weird to think how much it's hitting me
It's hard to write with tears in my my eyes
I wonder how often my smile is a disguise
It seems that each death gets harder with the passing years
I hope that I get through this puddle of tears
Only yesterday, you were standing here
It felt certain that you'd always be near
Sometimes, it was hard to tell where each of us starts
You were the best part of my jaded heart
Looking back on our photographs and memories
It's easy to tell how much you meant to me
I wish that I had always told you
Now I'm lost here, wanting just to hold you
You had always said that I wasn't much for talking
Preferring instead the solitude of endlessly walking
Alone through the memories of our woods
Now I stand here alone where you once stood
Only yesterday, you were standing here
It felt certain that you'd always be near
Sometimes, it was hard to tell where each of us starts
You are the best part of my jaded heart
In this world that is our stage
Your words were the only words on my page
At least the only words with real meaning
In sum, you were my favorite human being
Traces of you will last in the anguish of my eternity
Alone without you, knowing how much you meant to me
As I stand in our woods staring into the abyss
Yours is the love that I will always miss
Only yesterday, you were standing here
It felt certain that you'd always be near
Sometimes, it was hard to tell where each of us starts
You were the best part of my jaded heart
(c) January 8, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged About A Death, Abyss, Admit, Alone, Anguish, Breath, Certain, Death, Disguise, Each of Us Starts, Eternity, Eyes, Favorite Human Being, Harder, Hold, Hope, Jaded, Jaded Heart, Lost, Meant, Miss, My Smile, Near, Only Yesterday, Our Woods, Passing Years, Photographs and Memories, Poetry, Poetry and Poems, Puddle of Tears, Real Meaning, Show, Solitude, Stage, Standing Here, Stood, Sum, Talking, Tears, Today, Traces of You, Walking, Weird, Wish, Woods, Words On My Page, World, Write, Yeterday
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First Principles: It Is Not Easy To Be Wise For All Times. Not Even For the Present ; Much Less For the Future: and Those Who Judge the Past Must Recollect That When It Was Present, the Present Was Future
“It is not easy to be wise for all Times. Not even for the present; much less for the future: and those who judge of the past must recollect that when it was present, the present was future.” – Gouverneur Morris
(In 1811, in a letter to a friend, Morris felt the necessity of defending the compromises made in drafting the Constitution with the above language. Today’s defamation of the Founders by too many on the Left attests to the wisdom of keeping decisions in the context of time.)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged All Times, Easy, First Principles, Future, Gouverneur Morris, Judge, Past, Present, Recollect, Wise
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Thought For the Day: There Is Nothing So Confining As the Prisons of Our Own Perceptions
“There is nothing so confining as the prisons of our own perceptions.” – William Shakespeare
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Tagged Confine, Nothing, Own, Perception, Prison, Thought For the Day, William Shakespeare
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Dark Sources
Dark Sources
by Michael Doyle
The optics make me cringe.
Almost every newscast is on the fringe
It seems that we're invited into the conspiracy
While they really don't care about history
Everyone vents and is set on blaming
It's that PR game known as framing
Truth, it seems, has become subjective
No one even tries to appear objective
It's your side versus, ostensibly, my side
Even honest brokers have something to hide
Everyone huddles strategically for their team
We watch it every night on our television screens
There's gangrene in the connective tissue of society
So much so that it's no longer a matter of complexity
But the very roots of how life works at its foundation
Power for power's sake serves as the only explanation
There is nowhere to hide or any place to runaway
We're all endangered; the longer we stay
Texts are fleshed out between the media's calls
Dark rumors come down, suffocating souls between walls
Too many nosey neighbors are looking in
It's been this way since the original sin
The blame comes on us as we push to know what's going on
We'd like the Constitution to protect us, but it's nearly gone
If you dig far enough to reach the profound
You might be surprised by the poisons you've downed
These are the darkest spaces of ugly pessimism
Letting it go on leaves no more room for optimism
Systemic racism leaves a lot for us to improve
The Captains of America have their sense of groove
Shots are fired aimlessly into the polluted air
And.. you quizzically smile like you haven't a care
(c) January 7, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged :Profound, Blame, Captains of America, Care, Complexity, Connective Tissue, Conspiracy, Constitution, Cringe, Dark Sources, Downed, Endangered, Every Night, Explanation, Fleshed Out, Foundation, Framing, Fringe, Gangrene, Groove, Hide, History, Honest Brokers, Huddle, Invitation, Life, Looking In, Media, My Side, Neighbors, Newscast, Nowhere, Objective, Optics, Optimism, Original Sin, Pessimism, Poetry and Poems, Poison, Polluted Air, Power, Public Relations, Quizzically Smile, Roots, Rumors, Runaway, Shots, Society, Souls, Stay, Strategic, Subjective, Systemic Racism, Team, Television, Texts, Truth, Vent, Walls, Your Side
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First Principles: The Virtues of Men Are of More Consequence To Society Than Their Abilities; and For This Reason, the Heart Should Be Cultivated With More Assiduity Than the Head
“The virtues of men are of more consequence to society than their abilities; and for this reason, the heart should be cultivated with more assiduity than the head.” – Noah Webster (1788)
(Virtues to be cultivated are courage, patience, and moderation or temperance.)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Ability, Assiduity, Consequence, Cultivation, First Principles, Head, Heart, Mankind, Noah Webster, Reason, Society, Virtues
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Thought For the Day: Action Is the Great Restorer and Builder of Confidence. Inaction Is Not Only the Result, But the Cause of Fear…Any Action Is Better Than None
“Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.” – Norman Vincent Peale
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Action, Adjustment, Builder, Cause, Confidence, Fear, Inaction, Norman Vincent :Peale, Restore, Successful, Thought For the Day
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