“When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat-Moon, travel writer (b. 27 Aug 1939)
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Thought For the Day: When You’re Traveling, You Are What You Are Right There and Then. People Don’t Have Your Past To Hold Against You. No Yesterdays On the Road
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Hold, Past, People, Right There, Road, Thought For the Day, Travel, William Least Heat-Moon, Yesterdays
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Age of Anxiety
Age of Anxiety
by Michael Doyle
Looking out for my daughters with empathy
As this modern age drips with anxiety
There are so many issues and concerns seen
It quickly overwhelms any human being
It has become an epidemic across this nation
Where morbid complexity gives way to depression
Rising from the sweltering depths of the pandemic
A nation of angst has grown somehow systematic
Entering high school, it seems so much matters
As leaving middle school, friends seem to scatter
A parent wishes for life to become a smooth roll
But instead, watches life's issues take their toll
Sometimes scared and embarrassed by things seen
As they scroll through social media's vivid screens
It's increasingly hard to connect to any community
There's only so much to be done with one's family
I watch each of them wise beyond their knowing
Taking fatherly delight in watching their growing
I see them taking steps in their development
Increasingly, I am there only to offer encouragement
It's up to my daughters as their own human beings
To keep confidence, seeking competence and meaning
I whisper to them to never, ever fear the shadows
And that I love them more than they can truly know
When they get lost in life's darkness and blight
I call them quietly to always focus on the light
There it is, where they are, waiting for their sight
If their courses need correcting, they'll set it right
I see them sometimes feel failure as they learn
But their sense of this is better than some will earn
There is no point in living hard and pressuring oneself
Not all of life's lessons will come from bookended shelves
In this age of internet connection, so much alienation
Comes to be the pattern that needs constant detection
Therapy and medication are not needed, nor a stranger's love
I try to show them to keep their heads praying to the above
Heaven may not speak loudly, but listen close to hear
And you'll find your way through anything you might fear
This crisis and challenge is pervasive across our community
But my daughters will know they've got their loving family
(c) August 27, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Above, Age of Anxiety, Alienation, Angst, Anxiety, Community, Competence, Confidence, Connect, Corrected, Courses, Crisis and Challenge, Darkness and Blight, Daughters, Depression, Depth, Detection, Development, Earn, Empathy, Encouragement, Epidemic, Failure, Family, Fatherly Delight, Fear, Find Your Way, Focus, Friends, Growing, Heaven, High School, Human Being, Human Beings, Increasingly, Issues and Concerns, Knowing, Learn, Life, Life's Issues, Life's Lessons, Light, Listen, Love, Loving Family, Matters, Meaning, Middle School, Modern Age, Morbid Complexity, Nation, Overwhelm, Pandemic, Parent, Poetry and Poems, Pray, Right, Scared and Embarassed, Scatter, Screens, Scroll, Seen, Shadow, Sight, Smooth Roll, Social Media, Stranger's Love, Systematic, Therapy and Medication, Toll, Truly Know, Whisper, Wise
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First Principles: The Ways and Means Ought Always To Face the Public Engagements; …Our Appropriations Should Ever Go Hand In Hand With Our Promises
“There is not a more important and fundamental principle in legislation, than that the ways and means ought always to face the public engagements; that our appropriations should ever go hand in hand with our promises. To say that the United States should be answerable for twenty-five millions of dollars without knowing whether the ways and means can be provided, and without knowing whether those who are to succeed us will think with us on the subject, would be rash and unjustifiable.” – James Madison (1790)
Thought For the Day: The Best Index To A Person’s Character Is (a) How He Treats People Who Can’t Do Him Any Good, and (b) How He Treats People Who Can’t Fight Back
“The best index to a person’s character is (a) how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can’t fight back.” – Abigail Van Buren (August 1980)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Abigail Van Buren, Best Index, Character, Fight Back, Good, People, Thought For the Day, Treat
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Love Is A Dance of Promises
Love Is A Dance of Promises
by Michael Doyle
To weave the fabric of lasting bonds
To feel first love and move beyond
It is a path that is a kind of worship
Making us into a resilient relationship
Losing you would be to die without dying
The tears ripping me apart without crying
The weight of your soul is felt in your walk
This late hour holds this as more than talk
Five promises that will help us to thrive
Five promises that will help our love survive
I will be here for you in the no matter what
We will remind each other if ever we've forgot
We make again commitments of loving trust
Knowing no other way than we simply must
Knowing that communication begins with respect
Promising in the good and bad, we won't neglect
Truth is the cornerstone of our loving intimacy
We promise to embrace the depths of vulnerability
Honesty is embraced without fear as our currency
The bridge between us is lived in our integrity
Five promises that will help us to thrive
Five promises that will help our love survive
I will be here for you in the no-matter-what
We will remind each other if ever we've forgot
Cultivated compassion becomes a promised tapestry
Tending to each other's wounds, we are sanctuary
Unwavering, we seed our garden with needed kindness
Promising understanding light instead of blindness
We prioritize growth for each other and loved together
Nurturing passion and making our shared dreams better
Each obstacle and challenge is another opportunity
Lived as stepping stones that will bring stronger unity
Five promises that will help us to thrive
Five promises that will help our love survive
I will be here for you in the no-matter-what
We will remind each other if ever we've forgot
We promise to cherish the small moments that we weave
Each a part of the tapestry shared as we believe
Shoulder to shoulder, we stand strong in our solidarity
Holding hands in times of joy and sorrow's soul sincerity
But most of all, we promise to choose love every single day
In life's ebb and flow, we promise to live love in every way
Letting each other's love always be our best guiding lights
Leading us through our best days and in our darkest nights
Five promises that will help us to thrive
Five promises that will help our love survive
I will be here for you in the no-matter-what
We will remind each other if ever we've forgot
(c) August 26, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Beyond, Commitments, Communication, Cornerstone, Crying, Dance, Die, Dying, Fabric, Felt, First Love, Five Promises, Forgot, Good and Bad, Here For You, Intimacy, Lasting Bonds, Late Hour, Love, Loving Trust, Must, Neglect, No Matter What, Path, Poetry and Poems, Promises, Relationship, Remind, Resilient, Respect, Sould, Survive, Talk, Tears, Thrive, Truth, Walk, Weave, Weight, Worship
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First Principles: The God Who Gave Us Life Gave Us Liberty At the Same Time; the Hand of Force May Destroy, But Cannot Disjoin Them
“The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.” – Thomas Jefferson (1774)
Thought For the Day: A Certain Amount of Opposition Is A Great Help To A Man. Kites Rise Against, Not With, the Wind
“A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind.” – John Neal, author and critic (25 Aug 1793-1876)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Against, Amount, Help, John Neal, Kite, Man, Oopposition, Thought For the Day, Wind
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Backstory
Backstory
by Michael Doyle
In the Christian community
There are blessings in our family
It's a provident bit of spiritual wealth
That keeps us in godly health
Attending to our lives through celebration
That holds the Trinity in fascination
As we live our lives in the walk
Keeping in stride with our talk
Jesus stepped into our shoes
As He walked among us with His views
Confident of our place in eternity
Targeted in our struggles against the Adversary
As children of God, it is quite simple
We cause all of Hell to tremble
Despite the bumps on our daily roads
The story of God continues to unfold
All we do through God has its season
Laid out for us by God's pure reasons
All is bent and lent in contemplation
With the ransom paid for our redemption
There is a debt of grace, we cannot pay
As we serve God's purposes on the way
As stewards of the gifts God has given
And we live our lives among the forgiven
We live His gospel in every situation
As we live in the outside world with circumspection
Addressing the wounds and needs of others
Walking in humility and serving our brothers
Sisters, parents, and children all have their needs
This is the backstory of the Bible we read
His is a love story needing to be told
As we minister to all as life unfolds
Unapologetically, this good news is for everyone
Declared for the goodness of God and His Son
We must speak the truth with all true humility
It's for the good of all God's family
We live out the truth throughout our days
Full of hope, and singing out our praise
This is our choice that flavors our songs
Living the love of God's family to which we belong
(c) August 25, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Adversary, Backstory, Blessings, Bump, Celebration, Children of God, Christian Community, Contemplation, Eternity, Family, Fascination, Godly, Hell, Lives, Poetry and Poems, Ransom Paid, Reason, Redemption, Season, Simple, Spiritual Wealth, Struggle, Trembe, Trinity, Unfold
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Thought For the Day: Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound That Saved A Wretch Like Me! I Once Was Lost But Now Am Found, Was Blind But Now I See
“Amazing grace! how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see.” – John Newton
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Amazing Grace, Blind, Found, John Newton, Lost, See, Sound, Sweet, Thought For the Day, Wretch
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First Principles: It Is By Grace You Have Been Saved, Through Faith – and This Is Not From Yourselves, It Is the Gift of God – Not By Works, So That No One Can Boast
” For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Boast, Ephesians 2:8-9, Faith, First Principles, Gift of God, Grace, Saved, Self, Works
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