“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)
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First Principles: Train Up A Child In the Way He Should Go; and When He Is Old, He Will Not Depart From It
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Child, Depart, First Principles, Go, Old, Proverbs 22:6 (NIV), Train Up, Way
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Life Lived Artfully (Without Deceit)
Life Lived Artfully (Without Deceit)
by Michael Doyle
Imagine, if you might, your life in a circumstance
Handed over to art, but only from a tragic distance
It would be a malaise that knew its exception
Because your life is the art that doesn't know deception
But speaks truth in its every moment and its heartbeat
Comes alive as a critique of a life lived without deceit
The quiet sunset hangs its glowing evening star
And it's hope brings healing to a dream's jagged scar
A familiar life can bring its own sort of fascination
Found in the duet of a masquerade's simple variation
When forced to say much in the form of solid limitations
There is joy to be found even in its chosen lamentations
Stories in the simple life often require translation
Speaking to the particular in a general explanation
We bring the words that move us to a long time living
And find the best of our understanding in our forgiving
(c) May 18, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Art, Artfully, Circumstance, Critique, Deceit, Deception, Evening Star, Every Moment, Exception, Familiar Life, Fascination, Forgiving, General Explanation, Heal, heartbeat, Hope, Imagine, Jagged Scar, Lamentation, Life Lived, Limitation, Long Time Living, Malaise, Masquerade, Poetry and Poem, Simple Life, Stories, Sunset, Tragic Distance, Translation, Truth, Understanding, Variation, Words
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First Principles: Resistance To Tyranny Becomes the Christian and Social Duty of Each Individual…Continue Steadfast…With A Proper Sense of Your Dependence On God
“Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual… Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.” – John Hancock
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Christian, Defend, Dependence, First Principles, God, Heaven, Individual, John Hancock, No Man, Proper Sense, Resistance, Rights, Social Duty, Steadfast, Tyranny
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Thought For the Day: Looking Up Into the Night Sky Is Looking Into Infinity – Distance Is Incomprehensible and Therefore Meaningless
“Looking up into the night sky is looking into infinity — distance is incomprehensible and therefore meaningless.” – Douglas Adams
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Distance, Douglas Adams, Incomprehensible, Infinity, Look, Meaningless, Night Sky, Thought For the Day
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The Secret Woes of Regret
The Secret Woes of Regret
by Michael Doyle
Kept silence about better days
Are still remembered for the better ways
We once so happily lived in
Before the days of blood and drunken sins
We clean the ship's hull on the beach
To gain that extra knot for the breach
These are chances taken in the gamble
That leads us to this pirate's ramble
The life that a pirate leads
Is filled with dread and misdeeds
There are some things we can't forget
These are the sweet woes of regret
It's said that dead men tell no tales
That's why we pray a strong wind prevails
That we might plunder yet another day
For we pirates, there is no better way
There is in yesterday's loss and pain
All the tears that fell like November's rain
Until with a turn toward fairer weather
Even a pirate dreams that things will be better
The life that a pirate leads
Is filled with dread and misdeeds
There are some things we can't forget
These are the sweet woes of regret
False promises made without intention
Are the suffering that brings attention
It's best not to think on men who've died
Nor all the times that friends have lied
All this for the mystic power that is gold
It blinds us all to the truth of old
That a life meant to be lived legendary
Requires honor and faith lived with integrity
The life that a pirate leads
Is filled with dread and misdeeds
There are some things we can't forget
These are the sweet woes of regret
(c) May 17, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Attention, Beach, Better Days, Better Way, Better Ways, Blind, Blood, Breach, Dead Men, Died, Dread, Dreams, Drunken Sins, Fair Weather, Faith, False Promises, Forget, Friends, Gamble, Gold, Happy, Honor, Integrity, Intention, Knot, Legendary, Lied, Life, Loss, Men, Misdeed, Mystic Power, November's Rain, Pain, Pirate, Pirates, Plunder, Poetry and Poems, Prevails, Ramble, Regret, Remember, Require, Secret, Ship's Hull, Silence, Strong Wind, Suffering, Tales, Tears, Truth, Woe, Yesterday
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First Principles: If You Do Not Take An Interest In the Affairs of Your Government, Then You Are Doomed To Live Under the Rule of Fools
“If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.” – Plato
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Affairs, Doom, First Principles, Government, Interest, Plato, Rule of Fools
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Thought For the Day: In Theory There Is No Difference Between Theory and Practice. In Practice There Is
“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.” – Yogi Berra
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Between, Difference, Practice, Theory, Thought For the Day, Yogi Berra
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The Rock Hewn Churches of Lalibela
The Rock Hewn Churches of Lalibela
by Michael Doyle
People tend to adopt the way of others
They suit their own cultures to another's
And as people seek commonality with each other
They also signify differences with one another
In Ethiopia's highlands, we find many depictions
Of a black Jesus and other figures in duplication
As gods of all sorts are kept in the relationship
That brings comfort to those seeking worship
Black Jesus and black saints are not that different
Then how we make Jesus European and yet hold Him reverent
These images were first made in about 600 AD
200 years after the Ethiopians developed their own imagery
There in the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela's volcanic rock
Is the uniqueness and connections that bring us to talk
UNESCO tries to identify and protect parts of the human story
Whatever its impact on those things to do with God's glory
Around the world, iconic stories are shared to be told
Many of these dating from whispers lost to the days of old
The churches of Lalibela are amazingly found
So that their roofs break no higher than the ground
40 million Ethiopians adhere t- a sense of orthodox
Doctrines that keep the trinity within a three lock box
St Mary of Zion is said to hold the arc of the covenant
And these churches stand as faith and provide testament
Gazing on the pillars of the churches is said to embrace
Our Lord and Savior, as if looking into His sacred face
These craved rocks arise in their amazing complexity
And speak to the human heart of reality and diversity
The Aksumites left their steles of memory honoring the dead
Memories of kings carved in stone to represent these things
That came before the rise of the dominance of Christianity
All of this part of Ethiopia's remembered dignity
The Ezana Stone tells the story of this vast conversion
That came early and with enthusiastic optimism
While the Nine Saints came to stand with their own dignity
As they traveled to spread the doctrines of Christianity
The churches of Lalibela are the things of semi-myth
As they stood separately, built as if monoliths
Traces of heavenly angels are found in the excavations
In the embellished stories given as explanation
These monumental churches are made both in their simplicity
But also the very substance that breathes of complexity
Angels are said to have helped in their building
Exposing the intimacy of the crosses of holy revealing
The wonder and sacredness of God's good mystery
Is held up for examination in Ethiopia's history
While nearby, the Leakeys found Lucy's bones
That have not yet managed to remove God from His throne
(c) May 16, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Africa, Angels, Arc of the Convenant, Bible, Black Jesus, Building, Common, Complexity, Conversion, Culture, Dead, Differences, Dignity, Diversity, Ethiiopia, ethiopia, Excavation, Explanation, Ezana Stone, God, God's Glory, Ground, Highland, History, Human Heart, Human Story, Imagery, Inconic, Jesus, Lalibela, Layers of Complexity, Lucy, Memories, Monoliths, Mysterry, Orthocox, Pillars, Poetry and Poems, Reality, Relationship, Revealing, Rock Hewn Churches, Sacred, Sacred FAce, Simplicity, St Mary of Zion, Steles, Testament, The Leakeys, The Nine Saints, Throne, Travel, UNESCO, Wonder, Worship
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First Principles: If I Believe In God and Life After Death and You Do Not, and If There Is No God, We Both Lose When We Die. However, If There Is A God, You Still Lose and I Gain Everything
“If I believe in God and life after death and you do not, and if there is no God, we both lose when we die. However, if there is a God, you still lose and I gain everything.” – Blaise Pascal
Posted in First Principles
Tagged A God, Believe, Blaise Pascal, Death, Die, Do Not, First Principles, Gain Everything, God, Life, Lose, No God, Still
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Thought For the Day: The Least Movement Is of Importance To All Nature. The Entire Ocean Is Affected By A Pebble
“The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.” – Blaise Pascal
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Affect, Blaise Pascal, Entire Ocean, Importance, Least, Movement, Nature, Pebble, Thought For the Day
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ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 