First Principles: An Equal Dispensation of Protection, Rights, Privileges, and Advantages, Is What Every Part Is Entitled To, and Ought To Enjoy

“The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy.” – Benjamin Franklin (1774)

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Thought For the Day: To Be Yourself In A World That Is Constantly Trying To Make You Something Else Is the Greatest Accomplishment

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Walking In Step

Walking In Step
by Michael Doyle

Life's paths can lead us to darkness
Wrong choices can bring us harshness
But our God's love is good
It is how we live and it's understood

That saying yes to God is often forgotten
Preferring to live an easy life misbegotten
Only we find that the easy is often the bad
And it's in no way better than what could be had

The doors of life open and curiously close
As we wonder aloud at the paths we have chose
Looking forward to walk in step and keep in stride
We need to be open to what it is that God provides

This is the truth the pages of the Bible have told
We need this genuine truth to think on and behold
God is found as the Sun and yet is our sacred shield
Pressing forward and into what we find that life will yield

Nothing good will God withhold
As long as it is what His will unfolds
For the good of His holy kingdom
And what will lead to the good needed to come

Like a prodigal son wondering what's left
I know that I need to step up to be in step
So much I've done that has been wrong
Yet, still, I know that I somehow belong

Homecoming is needed to be truly felt
To be forgiven for the life that I've been dealt
Jesus has come to calm every storm
Stillness has come to be my new norm

I've seen the miracles with my own eyes
It has been enough to quietly recognize
That the Lord does not leave me alone
No matter how much I need to atone

There is nothing I've done that I need to hide
I know that Jesus is always by my side
Everything that happens must be gone through
If we are to know the goodness of me and you

It turns out that everyone has their place to be
Mines is wherever you are with me...

(c) January 2, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: We Keep Moving Forward, Opening New Doors, and Doing New Things, Because We’re Curious and Curiosity Keeps Leading Us Down New Paths

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

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First Principles: Do Not Be Too Timid and Squeamish About Your Actions. All Life Is An Experiment. The More Experiments You Make the Better

“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Life’s Mystery Dance

Life's Mystery Dance
by Michael Doyle

It's true. God's good love endures forever
While I'd love to claim differently, I'm not so clever
But I do know this is a promise on which we can rely
After chasing false love, I was led to this love I cannot deny

There is more to this than the temporary
And I've found that God's eternal love is not contrary
I've learned the love given by God is not transactional
It's the real of the real thing; no matter how analytical

I process the claims as I approach what I know of life
There is only one way to God's peace and overcome strife
I look on the heavens composed by God's craftsmanship
And I feel my way to the art of living as I worship

Not that which is visible, and that I can readily see
But the creator who reveals himself in all of His artistry
Does it also get your awareness in your full attention?
If so, maybe that's just the truth of God's good intention

Let this, then be my openly stated contention
That as we observe all there is for our ready retention
Loving and living life at God's open and ready invitation
Everywhere around we look and behold His open revelation

Seeing this, in our faith, puts aside any resentment
AS our lives lead us to our fullness and contentment
Enough is the enough felt in all truth and sincerity
And this brings us about to living life in generosity

I have lived long in this faithful sense of clarity
Knowing that life is to be lived with content sincerity
Walking as I do in every moment of life's circumstance
I have become joined in the best of life's mystery dance

(c) January 1, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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Thought For the Day: Your Present Circumstances Don’t Determine Where You Can Go, They Merely Determine Where You Start

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go, they merely determine where you start.” – Nido Qubei

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First Principles: Be At War With Your Vices, At Peace With Your Neighbors, and Let Every New Year Find You A Better Man

“Be at War with your Vices, at Peace with your Neighbors, and let every New-Year find you a better Man.” – Benjamin Franklin

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Bring On the New Year

Bring On the New Year
by Michael Doyle

As my daughters and I take our moment to reconnect
The newsman sings his warnings about a polar vortex
We don't care because we are warm and safe inside
In our cozy corners, where each of us quietly confides

Our secrets to each other and to our friends
Seeking our amusement and trust in a world of pretends
Sharing The Sound of Music as is our tradition
We offer each other laughter and love without condition

It seems everyone has their place to be
Mine is wherever and whenever they're with me
I indeed love them more than any other part of life
Our joys and good times bring feelings that are rife

Tomorrow is the first day of the next year
We bought sushi and sparkling juice for cheer
And we wait, watching shows and talking about goals
Filled with aspirations of what we do and don't know

My other love lives on the world's other side
It's just something to contend with and, sadly, abide
I cannot wait until the days will be so much better
The days when finally we live our lives together

It seems everyone has their place to be
Mine is wherever and whenever she is with me
I indeed love her more than just about any other part of life
She and my daughters bring good times and feelings that are rife

This old year is quickly beginning to slip away
Tomorrow, we'll watch the Rose Parade on New Year's Day
Each of us will take part in giving our contribution
Telling maybe one or two of our New Year's resolutions

At midnight, we'll toast the fireworks flying high
Dancing across this city's unlit portions of the sky
We will think about the good and bad of so many things
Until someone plays guitar while another sings

It seems everyone has their place to be
Mine is wherever and whenever my memories are with me
I indeed have loved the passing years of this life
With so much to given and be given with love tender and rife

(c) December 31, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: One Ought Every Day At Least, To Hear A Little Song, Read A Good Poem, See A Fine Picture, and, If It Were Possible, To Speak A Few Reasonable Words

“One ought every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship

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