“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” – John F. Kennedy
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First Principles: As We Express Our Gratitude, We Must Never Forget That the Highest Appreciation Is Not To Utter Words, But To Live By Them
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Appreciation, Express, First Principles, Forget, Gratitude, John F. Kennedy, Live, Words
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Thought For the Day: Man May Dismiss Compassion From His Heart, But God Never Will
“Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will.” – William Cowper
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Compassion, Dismiss, God, Heart, Man, Thought For the Day, William Cowper
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Thanksgiving Contemplation
Thanksgiving Contemplation
by Michael Doyle
Dig up the extra silverware
It's the time to take care
As we feast on our fare
And forget the when and where
A claustrophobic proximity
Adds to the instant complexity
As we fight over dinnertime
And what exactly rhymes
With the thoughts of gratitude
As we fake the right attitude
Even fighting over when to eat
Let alone vegan or some kind of meat
One upon a time in this land
We celebrated something that was grand
Now we talk about stolen land
And the fires build as they're fanned
Too many lost into the polarity
As if we're no longer family
And it makes me wonder at the story
That's stripped us all from glory
It's gonna leave a mark, no doubt
Wondering what the fuss is about
As most of our family is now dead
Does it really matter what we've said
As sure as certain, rituals matter
Let's do nothing that will shatter
The things that we should hold dear
And all of us who should be near
As someone puts the turkey on the table
At the time they are best able
That's when to eat Thanksgiving together
It's as good as it gets, even better
(c) November 25, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Best Able, Celebrate, Claustrophobic Proximity, Contemplation, Dead, Dinnertime, Eat, Even Better, Family, Fan, Fare, Feast, Fight, Fires Build, Fuss, Glory, Good As It Gets, Grand, Gratitude, Hold Dear, Instant Complexity, Leave A Mark, Lost, Meat, No Doubt, Poetry and Poems, Polarity, Really Matter, Rhymes, Right Attitnude, Rituals Matter, Shatter, Should Be Near, Silverware, Stolen Land, Story, Table, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Together, This Land, Thoughts, Turkey, Vegan, When and Where, Wonder
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First Principles: Justice In the Life and Conduct of the State Is Possible Only As First It Resides In the Souls of the Citizens
“Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the souls of the citizens.” – Plato
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Citizen, Conduct, First Principles, Justice, Life, Plato, Possible, Soul, State
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Thought For the Day: We Cannot Choose Our External Circumstances, But We Can Always Choose How We Respond To Them
“We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.” – Epictetus
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Tagged Choose, Circumstances, Epictetus, External, Respond, Thought For the Day
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If Space and Time…
If Space and Time...
by Michael Doyle
It's only been a matter of a few passing years
I'm alone on your birthday except for my tears
Talking to God again, I stare off into the night
Yours was the sisterly love that was my guiding light
We laughed in our last fragmented conversation
I hadn't a clue it was leading to my devastation
I was the one who took the risks and paid the costs
I wouldn't have bet it would be you who ended up lost
If space and time are only tools for our mind
Maybe no one loses and gets left behind
Thinking on consciousness, reality, and death
I still feel you with my every passing breath
Outside of time, a spaceless world unfolds
Immortality is just another story to be told
Light particles communicate in a cosmic instant
Where flaws in knowledge are the only constant
Every possible observation leads to another universe
Tell me, are you out there in some faded multiverse
Your consciousness plays a role in shaping my reality
As I cling to the hope of your living immortality
Are you a lone cowgirl riding across a cosmic pasture
Signaling your existence through your hand's wafture
Sometimes, I can feel you still living when I'm alone
Praying to God that He might turn my heart to stone
If space and time are only tools for our mind
Maybe no one loses and gets left behind
Thinking on consciousness, reality, and death
I still feel you with my every passing breath
Outside of time, a spaceless world unfolds
Immortality is just another story to be told
Light particles communicate in a cosmic instant
Where flaws in knowledge are the only constant
The last time we talked, you asked if I would be alright
You couldn't take the pain, and hope had lost all sight
I had thought you had a rough day and were caught in sorrow
I didn't know that you would have no further tomorrow
You were my hero, and heroes are supposed to live forever
I guess it goes to show your kid brother was never that clever
Now, my existential dread has given way to flooding grief
But I still cling tightly to the best of my love and belief
If space and time are only tools for our mind
Maybe no one loses and gets left behind
Thinking on consciousness, reality, and death
I still feel you with my every passing breath
Outside of time, a spaceless world unfolds
Immortality is just another story to be told
Light particles communicate in a cosmic instant
Where flaws in knowledge are the only constant
I tell your nieces your stories for your continuity
To keep you alive in what feels like my eternity
Biocentrism fills a void of speculative territory
Maybe death is an illusion; wouldn't that be a glory
We were the pirate crew that was something indivisible
And I still need you here, though you are invisible
I don't know just how much time I have left to borrow
But your memories will keep me happy above my sorrow
If space and time are only tools for our mind
Maybe no one loses and gets left behind
Thinking on consciousness, reality, and death
I still feel you with my every passing breath
Outside of time, a spaceless world unfolds
Immortality is just another story to be told
Light particles communicate in a cosmic instant
Where flaws in knowledge are the only constant
(c) November 24, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Alone, Clever, Cling, Clue, Communicate, Consciousness, Constant, Cosmic Instant, Cosmic Pasture, Death, Devastation, Every Passing Breath, Existence, Existential Dread, Feel, Flaws In Knowledge, Flooding Grief, Fragmented Conversation, God, Guiding Light, Heart To Stone, Hero, Hope, If, Immortality, Kid Brother, Laughed, Left Behind, Life, Light Particles, Live Forever, Living, Lone Cowgirl, Lost, Love and Belief, Mind, Multiverse, Night, Observation, Outside of Time, Paid the Costs, Pain, Passing Years, Philosophy, Poetry and Poem, Praying, Reality, Risks, Role, Rough Day, Sight, Signal, Sisterly Love, Sorrow, Space, Space and Time, Spaceless World, Spirituality, Story, Talking To God, Tears, Tomorrow, Tools, Universe, Wafture, Your Birthday
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Seasons Lived
Seasons Lived
by Michael Doyle
Life comes and goes
Defined in seasons
It has its reasons
As our life sows
That which we reap
Comes with joy that we'll keep
Keeping goodness as our lane
Hoping all the others try to do the same
Stepping forward into the greatness
We know that we await this
We live our life's conversation
In search of our destination
Let's open up our eyes
It's time to recognize
We can no longer be blind
If we're looking ahead, not behind
There is a limit to certainty
At least when it comes to theology
It's more than a matter of history
As God leads us to our victory
Telling truth has its adversity
We know this through familiarity
Mankind grows by schisms
To revive in our optimism
We, in all our worldly ways
We find ourselves in the last days
This is the pressure we know about
And we question how it turns out
To put this forward and more direct
Is to understand the cause and effect
The social institutions bring us pressure
In all ways, sometimes beyond measure
We must stand firm against the lies
Open minds are defeated by open eyes
We know the long road of the logical song
But we must stay strong where we belong
We must manage our minds to act correctly
This includes, in matters of our sexuality
Relationally, we must cease this polarity
If we are to live right and not in heresy
We must be strong in following Jesus's ways
Removing our blind spots in these days
We must converse in genuine community
Practicing biblical stewardship serving our family
Sexual pure and in intentional prayer
We must study God everywhere
And in every sense, we know how
Living fervently here and forever, starting now
Through the filters of pain is how we see
Healing with love is to live by divinity
This takes being rebuked by discipline
That we might live unblemished by our sins
Once we get past the broken 'feels'
We realize that our God endlessly heals
And receive this love in its correction
Let's live our lives with all due appreciation
(c) November 24, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Adversity, All Due Appreciation, Belong, Biblical Stewardship, Blind, Blind Spots, Broken Feels, Cause and Effect, Certainty, Comes and Goes, Conversation, Correction, Correctly, Days, Destination, Direct, Discipline, Divinity, Every Sesnse, Eyes, Familiarity, Family, Filters of Pain, Forward, Genuine Community, God, Goodness, Greatness, Heal, Heresy, History, Intentional Prayer, Joy, Keep, Last Days, Lies, Life, Limit, Live Right, Logical Song, Long Road, Looking Ahead, Love, Manage, Mankind, Measure, Open Eyes, Open Minds, Optimism, Poetry and Poems, Polarity, Pressure, Question, Reap, Reasons, Rebuke, Recognize, Relationally, Schism, Seasons, See, Serve, Sexuality, Sin, Social Institutions, Sow, Stand Firm, Strong, Study God, Theology, Truth, Unblemished, Victory, Ways, Worldly Ways
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First Principles: For I Know the Plans I Have For You,” Declares the Lord, “Plans To Prosper You and Not To Harm You, Plans To Give You Hope and A Future
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.“ – Jeremiah 29:11
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Declare, First Principles, Future, Harm, Hope, Jeremiah 29:11, Know, Plans, Prosper, The Lord
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Thought For the Day: Railing Against the Past Will Not Heal Us. All We Can Do Is To Change Its Course By Encouraging What We Love Instead of Destroying What We Don’t
“Railing against the past will not heal us. All we can do is to change its course by encouraging what we love instead of destroying what we don’t.” – Arundhati Roy
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Arundhati Roy, Change, Course, Destroy, Encourage, Heal, Love, Railing, The Past, Thought For the Day
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Like Flowers In A Vase
Like Flowers In A Vase (For Joni Mitchell)
by Michael Doyle
Blonde hair and a long silhouette
A beautiful voice, unforgotten yet
Life's so short and makes us numb
Beauty like this is what we become
A voice for her generation
Held by many with great veneration
A lifetime's faded memory
A matriarch for our musical family
Sus chords ask needed questions
One to another without hesitation
Joni Mitchell, rock's Lady Blue
She held tight to her point of view
It suited her to be involved
In the clouds, unresolved
Life held up in introspection
She paints in words of circumspection
So much that we've taken for granted
As madmen and badmen wildly ranted
To get across our points of view
But no one knows just what is true
Spoken from a first-person narrative
With full voice bold and declarative
These were her truths to be shown
As if these things were already known
So much is left for our interpretation
Day upon day of life's contemplation
And the clouds surround to shelter you
But do they hint at the refractions of blue
Laurel Canyon's painted tapestry
Whisper the melody's mastery
Complex in chords and emotions
Following self was her secret devotion
Like fire in its fireplace
Songs are like flowers in their vase
Some loves seem to flow together
Joni's songs said it better
(c) November 23, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Beautiful Voice, Beauty, Become, Blonde Hair, Circumspection, Clouds, Declarative, First-Person Narrative, Flowers, Generation, Hesitation, Introspection, Involved, Joni Mitchell, Known, Lady Blue, Life, Madmen and Badmen, Memory, Numb, Poetry and Poems, Point of View, Question, Short, Shown, Silhouette, Sus Chords, Taken For Granted, True, Truth, Unforgotten, Unresolved, Vase, Veneration, Voice, Words
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