Thought For the Day: Speak Your Mind. Even If You’re A Minority of One, The Truth Is Still the Truth

Posted on November 7, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Many people, especially ignorant people, want to punish you for speaking the truth, for being correct, for being you. Never apologize for being correct, or for being years ahead of your time. If you’re right and you know it, speak your mind. Speak your mind. Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth.” – Mahatma Gandhi

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The purpose of life is to live as rightly as a person finds possible in thinking and acting rightly. One way to do this is to live the best truth we see possible. We are to live as though we do not know when we will pass on, be it death or transition to heaven. In doing so, we should aim to live in harmony of thought, word, and deed while seeking to purify our thoughts and deeds. Living in such a way will bear its best fruit(s) in its own time. For this to happen best, we must live in truth and integrity with our innermost being.

In living such a life, it is essential to know that our spiritual supplication, worship, and prayer are not mere acts of superstition but as real as our eating, drinking, exercise, and all else we do. In this daily admission of our need for God’s loving support, we do not waste time worrying, shame, or losing faith, which hurts our empathy toward others. This requires us to live honestly, and we must do so to live our best lives. Living this indomitable will gives us the strength to live lives of forgiveness and nobility.

Only by living our lives filled with humility and integrity will we have the compassion required to live our best lives. History teaches us that those with falseness and vain aspirations may have moments of apparent victory only to ultimately lose. Evil will always fail. Goodness and godliness will always prevail. We must be the change we wish to see. Mirroring the world is the path of failure and harm to ourselves.

Love breaks all barriers and is the strongest force in this world. Never seek to take; seek to give. The power gained from this is effective and permanent. True beauty is the purity of heart that Gandhi sought to encourage from each of us. Wouldn’t this be a better world if we lived by these admonishments?

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When I Search My Heart

Posted on November 6, 2024 by alohapromisesforever 
When I Search My Heart
by Michael Doyle

Standing atop the mountain peak
I find the peace needed to speak
Walking with my Lord, I find healing
Revealed in this peaceful feeling

I stand watching the sun rise
Seeding the beauty of God before my eyes
Setting aside what passes for desire
The truth of God burns like a fire

Looking over at my blessed family
I find my faith is more than a homily
In this dawn's breaking hour
I find comfort in the Lord's power

There is hope breaking through the shadows
Reaching for the depth beyond my shallows
Strumming my guitar, I begin to pray
With every note I sing and play

When I search my heart, He is there
Making my way safe despite my fear
Close to perfection, I feel the presence of love
Given to me from Heaven above

(c) November 6, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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First Principles: Virtue Or Morality Is A Necessary Spring of Popular Government. The Rule Indeed Extends With More Or Less Force To Every Species of Free Government

Posted on November 6, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free Government.” – George Washington, Farewell Address (1796)

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George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796) can be read in its entirety in several places on the internet. One of these is George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796). It is understood to be part of Washington’s legacy that he strove with humility to be seen as upright and to adhere to strict moral guidelines. In his Farewell Address, he encouraged the American people to adhere to religion and morality as indispensable supports of our republic’s governance. Some contest the veracity of this. I do not.

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Thought For the Day: Thoughts Are Like Arrows, Once Released They Strike Their Mark. Guard Them Well Or One Day You May Be Your Own Victim

Posted on November 6, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Thoughts are like arrows, once released they strike their mark. Guard them well or one day you may be your own victim.” – Navajo Saying

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Navajo (“Dine”) culture has many proverbs beyond human memory. Such wisdom lasts for generations for a good reason. In this case, this proverb means that we should be careful of the things we say. It’s best to control our thoughts, particularly our unkind thoughts. Words can hurt people, and once spoken, they cannot be unspoken.

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Thought For the Day: The First Duty of A Man Is To Think For Himself

Posted on November 5, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“The first duty of a man is to think for himself.” – Jose Marti, Hombre del Campo

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This is only a partial quote. The full quote is “The first duty of a man is to think for himself. For that reason I do not want you to respect the priest, because he will not let you think.” and is taken from a short tract Marti authored called “Hombre del campo” (The Countryman). This tract was written to oppose unscrupulous priests who used the teachings of Christ to influence political matters. Marti believed the Roman Catholic Church was acting wrongly and that church and state should be separated. It was Marti’s belief that Christianity had died under Roman Catholicism, which is used for political measures. As time has passed, the quote has been shortened to the fundamental truth that each person should think for themselves and be guided by their own conscience. This is particularly appropriate when approaching voting as we do today in the United States.

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First Principles: America Will Never Be Destroyed From the Outside. If We Falter and Lose Our Freedoms, It Will Be Because We Destroyed Ourselves

Posted on November 5, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

This quote has been determined to be false and yet is still used and attributed to Abraham Lincoln on numerous pages. “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” – Abraham Lincoln

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My apologies for trusting multiple sources that have attributed this statement to the Great Emancipator. Please see Did Abraham Lincoln Say ‘America Will Never Be Destroyed From the Outside’? | Snopes.com

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First Principles: Humanity Has Won Its Battle. Liberty Now Has A Country.

Posted on November 5, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.”– Marquis de Lafayette

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This quoted excerpt from a letter from Marquis de Lafayette shortly after Yorktown captures the triumph of the human spirit in achieving freedom and establishing our American republic. Individuals fighting for liberty birthed a nation and society based on freedom and equality, liberating us from oppression. It should be noted that, although quoted in the New York Times as referenced from a volume pertinent to the French involvement in the Revolutionary War, there is no exact reference to a specific letter provided.

The understanding of freedom differs between persons and can be derived from economic disparity and social inequality, and the degrees of freedom have historically varied even in the United States of America. Because of this, it might be suggested that freedom is to be viewed as a work in progress and not a completed work. In modern times, the complexity of understanding liberty continues in the perpetual pursuit of freedom for all.

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Two-Way Street

Posted on November 5, 2024 by alohapromisesforever 
Two-Way Street
by Michael Doyle

I don't have the words to say
All the things that I must say
I silently sit here, and I pray
I will somehow make my way

To my shepherd, I will sing
The holiest of holies, He is my king
You know who I'm talking about
As you join in to sing and shout

As the days of life rapidly disappear
You will find me waiting here
Joining in with the congregation
To grow in faith as I reach for my destination

Even when I'm lost and feeling weak
Even when I can't find the words to speak
The Lord comes to comfort me
His words paint my life's tapestry

That is the life that he wants me to lead
By His yoke, I find that I am finally freed
Faithfulness walked is a two-way street
This is the path on which we will meet

(c) November 5, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Looking Back On Quincy U

Posted on November 5, 2024 by alohapromisesforever 
Looking Back on Quincy U
by Michael Doyle

Mentor and teacher
To rocker and preacher
With a deepness of eyes
That made it easy to realize

Rather rock or jazz
His licks and hooks had pizzazz
Creating hits like a grand slam
Quincy's life was the master jam

Music is music
Until you lose control
It is two parts rhythm 
And heartful of soul

If you want to make a hit
Leave your ego at the door
You have to sign up at Quincy U
If you're going to score

It is more than conjecture
To say music is emotional architecture
Love, respect, and trust
Are truly emotional and musical musts

Finger on the trigger and in control
Every note holds its own soul
Every thriller must have its own fire
With sunshine and smiles filled with desire

Music is music
Until you lose control
It is two parts rhythm 
And heartful of soul

If you want to make a hit
Leave your ego at the door
You have to sign up at Quincy U
If you're going to score

Whether given or stolen every night
It must be made to sound right
What you have conceived and believed
Is what will be received

This is true, be it at times a feel
Or even your next record deal
A human tapestry of talented love and grace
Quincy Jones left his golden trace

Music is music
Until you lose control
It is two parts rhythm 
And heartful of soul

If you want to make a hit
Leave your ego at the door
You have to sign up at Quincy U
If you're going to score

(c) November 5, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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First Principles: Despotism Often Presents Itself As the Repairer of All the Ills Suffered, the Support of Just Rights, Defender of the Oppressed, and Founder of Order

Posted on November 4, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of order.” – Alexis de Tocqueville

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Anyone who has not yet cast their ballot in this election’s choice between Trump and Harris, should take the time to read Alex de Tocqueville’s Chapter VI, “What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have To Fear.” It would not be many paragraphs before they recognize the blueprint of governance Ms. Harris intends is quite close to what is warned against. Our republic is in a precarious state, and history points the administrative state directly toward despotism. This is not mankind’s progression but a vapid state of regression that, be it milder than monarchy, still leads us back into the chains of servitude. Equity is not equality and each of these is a destroyer of freedom that brings America under a central authority that leads to equality for none and even less freedom.

The belief that the elite will protect the poor is age-old and has seldom proven true. The greater power amassed and centralized in Washington, D.C., the more specific that obligations to protect and serve the people across America will be shed. The people who still have greater attachment to our overall nation than others among the privileged class will become more dependent on this centralizing authority and forget their attachment to populations with differing needs and perspectives across America. A tyrannical majority is still a tyranny.

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