“The freedom and happiness of man…[are] the sole objects of all legitimate government.” –Thomas Jefferson, letter to Thaddeus Kosciusko, 1810
Flickr Photos
First Principles: The Freedom and Happiness of Man…(Are) the Sole Objects of All Legitimate Government
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Equal Rights, First Principles, Freedom, Government, Happiness, Individual, Legitimate Objects, Only, Thomas Jefferson
Leave a comment
Set Apart
Set Apart
by Michael Doyle
As a church, we're set apart
By God, stirred in our hearts
Living life by past precedent
We do our best to live reverent
Bestowed in the Lord's good favor
It's a life we're meant to savor
Fearfully and wonderfully made
There is no cause to be afraid
The blessings had out number grains of sand
By the strength of God's good guiding hand
The belief grown knows its credibility
In a peace that surpasses our ability
Slaying the wicked with words of prayer
Peeling back life's onion, layer by layer
Lips speak of wrongs and of praise
With the hands of surrender that we raise
Staring humbly in our adoration
Reverence for God in His creation
Brings us to our sense of adequacy
Knowing to be chosen is not our fallacy
(c) October 19, 2021 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Thought For the Day: Irreverence Is the Champion of Liberty and Its Only Sure Defense
“Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defense.” – Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Champion, Irreverence, Liberty, Mark Twain, Only, Sure Defense, Thought For the Day
Leave a comment
First Principles: The Greatest Good We Can Do Our Country Is To Heal Its Party Divisions and Make Them One People
“The greatest good we can do our country is to heal its party divisions and make them one people.” -Thomas Jefferson (1801)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged First Principles, Greatest Good, Heal, One People, Our Country, Party Divisions, Thomas Jefferson, We
Leave a comment
Way Maker
Way Maker
by Michael Doyle
Discouraged as we sometimes are
We continue to follow the North Star
Knowing the battle belongs to God's victory
As we look back on the mountains of history
We have nothing really to fear
We have seen this, year after year
The righteous battles are fought on our knees
Victories sought before the Lord we seek to please
Promises kept as unto light in the darkness
Given by God as we guard against the hardness
In all the times, we find heartbreakers
God has stood holy as the way maker
Facing down more than one soul shaker
Following the ways of the peace maker
We pledge our souls to the sacred cause
Taking up all the ways of God's laws
(c) October 18, 2021 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Battle, Darkness, Discouraged, Fear, God, God's Laws, Guard, Heartbreakers, History, Holy, Knees, Maker, North Star, Peace Maker, Pledge, Poetry and Poems, Promises Kept, Righteous Battles, Sacred Cause, Soul Shaker, Souls, The Lord, Victory, Way, Ways, Year After Year
Leave a comment
First Principles: I Know No Safe Depository of the Ultimate Powers of the Society But the People Themselves
“I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.” – Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Charles Jarvis, 1820
Posted in First Principles
Tagged First Principles, Know, Safe Depository, Society, The People, Thomas Jefferson, Ultimate Powers
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: What I Like In A Good Author Isn’t What He Says, But What He Whispers
“What I like in a good author isn’t what he says, but what he whispers.” – Logan Pearsall Smith, essayist (1865-1946)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Author, Good, Like, Logan Pearsall Smith, Says, Thought For the Day, Whispers
Leave a comment
Resolution Brings Harmony
Resolution Brings Harmony
by Michael Doyle
Taking a look at the beatitudes
Taking each moment given in gratitude
God blesses the peacemakers as God's family
Not avoiding or appearing overly sweetly
Peace at any given price is not peace
Nor is it conflict's sweet release
It is isn't in the least codependency
But it is demanded from God's family
In the world and in our personal lives
There is a need to put away resentment and knives
Unresolved conflict drags on forever
It is not godly; nor is it very clever
In keeping conflict, it harms by its intention
If we're wrong with others, it is an ungodly direction
To claim to love God while hating is to block prayer
It's just what it is layering caught in snare
Horizontal and vertical, intersecting in connection
Being out of harmony can only bring God's disconnection
When we plant seeds, it brings to life harmony
This is to be the way of God's extended family
What we reap is clearly what we will sow
Only more so, as both love and hate grow
Certain steps walk us through the walk through
In a peace plan meant for me and for you
Make the first move without waiting
There is a need for the move without hesitating
No offering at the temple without peace
Shall be acceptable without forgiving the dis-ease
Working things out must be resolved immediately
We must face it if we seek after that something
That we truly want and earnestly need
Not avoiding the talk out of failings the bleed
It is in the unheeding moments of vulnerability
That we gather together in our greatest capability
To find our way through the heart of any conflict
And past the wounds that we often self-inflict
Defensiveness only builds the walls of distance
In the insecurity that breaks down circumstances
Holding back the openness of our souls' keep
That avoids the real level of connecting deep
Take courage renewed in the Holy Spirit's love
By keeping to the ways of God who abides above
We'll never change until perfect love casts out fear
Power, love and self-discipline help us to persevere
Seeking after God's wisdom where ours surely fails
The given wisdom will surely be what best prevails
Not knowing what to say or really what we should do
We will in the right timing ask God what we must do
Left in prayer to find the start of this new harmony
Joined together in courage as each is the other's family
We ask that God guide our right way to find the real
With kindness, compassion, and love that seeds the deal
(c) October 17, 2021 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Above, Avoid, Bleed, Block Prayer, Capability, Circumstances, Claim, Clever, Codependency, Compassion, Conflict, Connecting, Connection, Courage, Deal, Deep, Demand, Disconnection, Distance, Do, Failing, Fear, Forgive, God, God's Family, Godly, Gratitude, Guide, Harm, Harmony, Heart, Hesitate, Holy Spirit, Immediate, Insecurity, Intersect, Joined Together, Keep, Kindness, Layer, Life, Love, Moment, New Harmony, Offering, Openness, Peace, Peacemakers, Persevere, Plant Seeds, Poetry and Poems, Power, Prayer, Prevail, Price, Put Away, Reap, Resentment, Resolution, Right Timing, Say, Seed, Self-Discipline, Snare, Soul, Sow, Temple, The Real, Ungodly, Unresolved Conflict, Vulnerability, Working Things Out, World, Wounds
Leave a comment
First Principles: They That Can Give Up Essential Liberty To Purchase A Little Temporary Safety, Deserve Neither Liberty Nor Safety
“They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin (1759)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, Deserve, Essential Liberty, First Principles, Give Up, Liberty, Purchase, Temporary Safety, They
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: Power Is the Ability To Achieve A Purpose…Whether It is Good or Bad Depends On the Purpose
“Power is the ability to achieve a purpose … whether it is good or bad depends on the purpose.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Ability, Achieve, Bad, Depends, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Good, Power, Purpose, Thought For the Day
Leave a comment
